Atomic
by SugarAndPoison
Summary: "It's about time the government regulate what they do. I've been saying it for years, folks. Superheroes aren't the saviors of our world. They're a plague." Accepting OCs.
1. Age of the Superhuman

January 3rd, 2017 12:00

Small windows of light passed over her phone screen as her train sped down the railway. The engines hissed and clicked with the effort, somehow accomplishing a calming melody as the sound repeated itself. The train was quiet, typical of a Wednesday afternoon.

"Heroes, they call them. Why doesn't the government just say what they are? Why not tell the truth? They're terrorists, freaks, illegal aliens! Why hasn't the government dealt with this? Because they saved the Earth one year ago?"

The girl frowned as she turned up the volume on her phone, watching her screen intently.

* * *

A girl with long dark, wavy hair attacked her turkey leg as she watched the television screen from her place in the cafe. There weren't many people who could make her so mad, but G. Gordon Godfrey was a man of exceptional talent in that category.

"Oh yes, I'm talking about the Darkseid attack. Last year, when the amazing 'Justice League' was created. The world hailed them as heroes! Well, what do you think of your heroes now? Since they've revealed themselves, the number of so-called supervillains has increased exponentially! Hundreds have died as a cost from what blind followers hail as the Age of the Superhuman."

* * *

Several men shouted in fright as a green cage built around them, imprisoning them within it's walls. A young green lantern turned away from them, her long ponytail swishing with the movement. The men were part of a crime syndicate, one she had just taken down.

She turned her head as the television they had been watching before she ambushed them took her attention.

"What separates this 'good-doing' Justice League from the bad guys. Who's to say Superman won't turn on us? What's stopping these false heroes from doing whatever they want? It's about time the government did something! I, for one, and am overjoyed with the announcement that they plan to hold a summit on what to do with these superhuman loonies. I say kick them out. Send them back where they came from or better yet, get rid of them."

She clenched her fists and glared at the television.

* * *

"Only those who are blind can not see them for what they really are. Murderers! Do you not remember the Darkseid attack? How many lives they were responsible for taking by their careless attacks? Or should I remind you of the other incidents as well? It seems to me that every time a self-righteous hero has any confrontation, someone ends up dead in the aftermath."

A girl in a Japanese school uniform watched the television silently. Her classmates passed around her uncaringly, not understanding what he was saying. She looked to her English teacher and found him watching with the same distasteful expression she had. She looked back, her long braid falling from over her shoulder.

* * *

A boy of sixteen sighed as his older brother changed the channel to GBS. The elder always seemed to resent him for his powers since he came out as a super. His family had welcomed the change, but his brother became cold. This wasn't the first time he'd passively bully him in their own house.

"It's about time the government regulate what they do. I've been saying it for years, folks. Superheroes aren't the saviors of our world. They're a plague."

* * *

Her father hadn't heard her come down the stairs. She sat against the wall just opposite of the living room. Her father sat inside watching the news. He never watched it with her. He was too scared to let her hear what the world thought of her.

"You don't need any bloody superpower to know the future. I'll tell you right now, if we don't wipe their species off the face of this Earth, it will be the end of us. It is them or us! Open your eyes, people! It's about time we erase them from the face of this Earth."

* * *

 **A/N:**

Hello everyone, thank you for reading my story! I know this intro is short and choppy. I meant it to be. It's more a get-a-feel-of-the-story than a chapter. I swear I'm a good writer and would really appreciate if you gave my story a chance! Read the next chapter for a real sense of what's going down! Alternatively, I'd love some advice for my intro or any of my other chapters!

Here's some background for my story: (updated Jun. 08). The story takes place a year after Darkseid. I'm using Justice League: War as my foundation for this story. The events of Young Justice haven't happened yet and I'm leading up to it.

My story is also meant to have a darker tone, and I thought Gordon Godfrey would be a good way to introduce that. I'm modeling him after the Voice of London from V for Vendetta too. You may have noticed some characters are placed in Japan. My story will follow two plot lines between America and Japan. The American line will be more canon while the Japan storyline will be exploring society without public heroes.

The characters here are some of the OCs I've received up until now. Not all of them had been introduced yet.

Still accepting OCs! If you're sending a PM, please include the name of your OC in the title.

* * *

 **NAME**

 **NATIONALITY**

 **AGE *teens and young adults will compromise the main teams. Older characters will serve as teachers.**

 **PERSONALITY**

 **APPEARANCE**

 **HERO or VILLAIN**

 **NAME**

 **POWERS/ABILITIES**

 **COSTUME**

 **Optional: I may already have to tweak some of your characters to fit into the story better but I assure you changes will be subtle! The following forms are optional.**

 **BACKSTORY**

 **SEXUALITY**

 **RELATIONSHIP? *please specify with who or if you are open to anyone. If you write open to anyone, please include an ideal type so I can match you if there are any.**

 **ROLEMODEL? *if one**

 **STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES**

 **LIKES  
DISLIKES**

 **EXTRA**

 **HOW THEY GET ALONG WITH OG YOUNG JUSTICE TEAM *japanese OCs are also welcome to write for this**


	2. Peace Summit

Jan. 7th, 2017. 9:29 am.

"This is Lois Lane from The Daily Planet, recording to you live from the US-Justice League Peace Summit hosted by Wayne Enterprise in New York. We are just arriving on scene where various members of the Justice League Elite are just now arriving."

As she announced this, the cameraman panned his lens upward where several members cloaked in uniform could be seen descending from the sky. Lois grimaced at the sight of Superman. Job aside, Superman didn't deserve to be here. Having been saved by him on multiple occasions, she couldn't help but feel a soft spot for the man of steel. She cleared her throat, quickly hiding her own displeasure as she continued with her story. "The conference was called to discuss superhumans and what regulations should be put upon them to ensure public safety. Since the creation of the Justice League, superhuman-caused crime and destruction has increased exponentially. Countless lives have been lost, such as the unfortunate Darkseid Invasion and the notable Washington Elementary School Incident, where a group of school children were tragically lost in the wake of battle. The fights between superhumans have also cost the government millions in clean-up, rehabilitation, and reconstruction. The subject of superhumans has been the topic of controversy for years since they first appeared. The first sightings of superhumans began in the early 20th century and they have long since remained a mystery until recent years. Now, more and more superheroes, and villains, have become more public with their abilities. While most begin as lone vigilantes, in recent years, superheroes have banded together and formed the Justice League to combat world-wide threat. And though, many people will say that these heroes you see today are the saviors of humanity, many, some of which have lost family members to said heroes, will beg to differ. We'll head out now to ask the crowd their opinions on the matter. As you can see, there are many people gathered around. The people range from supporters to protesters-"

"Turn it off."

"I understand your displeasure, however, we must watch this all the way through."

"Are you kidding me? Just so we can watch how much people hate us?"

"Believe us. We already know."

"It is important to understand their sentiments," Aqualad announced sternly, his clear voice resonating through the tiny room as he attempted to cool the four glaring superhumans before him. He continued, "This is a dramatic defining point for the future of the world, and for ourselves.

"Stuff it, fish breath. You live down in the ocean where they can't touch you. You have no idea what it's like up here," a girl with long, brunette hair pulled back into a ponytail snapped at him. She crossed her arms and turned away from him, frowning deeply. Her brown eyes found a protester on screen and glared at him vehemently.

"You're right, Green Lantern. I don't," Aqualad allowed her comment to pass over him as he stepped a bit closer. "But I do understand your anger when you see your mentors being yelled at and ridiculed like they are."

The room went silent as the five, young heroes agreed and simmered in their anger. Aqualad breathed deeply, trying to keep his cool as he too became annoyed by the taunts of protesters on screen.

"What do they know? They never fought for their life like we have. How do they expect us to put down villains if they start restraining us with laws? Do they think people like the Joker are just going to play along?" Robin sneered, working himself up as GL finally clicked the television on mute.

"They're cowards," Red Arrow fumed in a corner with his arms crossed. He stared away from the group, out a rusted window of the apartment they were in and glared down at the people he could see from the alley way.

"For good reason," Aqualad spoke up again, releasing the fist he had unconsciously made. "While I can't help but resent the opposing public for their harsh criticisms, and I personally reject the idea of superhuman reforms, I cannot ignore the fact that heroes have killed in the line of duty. Shouldn't their fear, then, be justified?"

"We save their butts all day," Kid Flash countered angrily, curling up into a hunched ball of anger from where he sat. Though he had much more to say, he went quiet with the rest. Despite the public criticism they all endured the past year, they all knew Aqualad had a point, and they all shared a sense of guilt for the lives unjustly lost.

Silence lapsed between them for a long time, each within their own thoughts and musings on the matter. Finally, with a grunt of disgust, GL threw her arms down and stomped towards the front door. "Forget this. I'm not staying here and waiting for the adults to make a decision.

"Green Lantern, wait. Where are you going?" Aqualad asked before she could make it outside.

"Out? Blow off some steam or something," she said, gritting her teeth and frowning as she tightened her hand into a fist. She didn't look back at them as she wordlessly opened the door to leave.

"I'll go with you," Red Arrow volunteered and pushed himself off the sill of the window.

Robin joined them quietly, re-adjusting his sunshades since the five them were currently undercover. KF also joined them the next second as they gathered in the doorway. The four of them looked back to Aqualad, expecting him to come along.

"So that's it then," Aqualad sighed and resigned himself to go with them. The five headed downstairs, the shabby, stain-filled stairs creaking below them. They walked out into the lobby and towards the door, immediately smelling the scent of discarded alcohol and piss as they opened the apartment gate. Brushing it off, they set out around the block where a convenience store shown like a bright light in the dark and empty streets.

They entered the store silently, breaking off to buy drinks and snacks, whatever their heart desired. They paid together quietly and walked out with their goods. They went around the corner to the side of the building and huddled together in a group, diving into their spoils.

"This blows," Kid huffed in between bites as he dug into his bag of chips.

"No one's saying we like it, Kid," Green Lantern shot back, as she leaned against the wall, sipping a green soda through a straw.

"Then can we really do nothing? Is the only thing we can do just stand here?" Kid vented from where he sat against the lot.

"No," Red Arrow said, opening up a can of beer with a pop and chugging down about half. "We can start preparing for the worst possible outcome."

"Which is?" Robin asked pointedly, raising a hand in question.

"Superhumans become outlawed. We'll be forced to lead normal lives," Red Arrow hypothesized, sending the group on edge at his analysis.

"No way," Robin stood up with a defiant expression. "Batman would never let that happen."

"It's not up to him," Red Arrow countered and sipped more of his beer. "But I agree with you. A lot of members of the League, including me, wouldn't give up fighting, even if it was outlawed. But to do so would make us criminals. Are you willing to do that? Become an enemy of the state just so you can fight crime?"

"If it means taking down bad guys? Yes," Robin narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms in reply.

"Like they could even catch me," KF chimed in drearily.

"I hope you keep that in mind then," Red Arrow shrugged, internally congratulating the two for their determination.

"Hey kids!" a rough voice interrupted them then. The group turned, spying six men approaching them from an alley with less than good intentions. "You lost?"

Red Arrow laughed and stood up upon their arrival. He chugged down the remainder of his beer and tossed the can aside as his colleagues circled around him, getting ready for a fight. He smirked and started punching his fist into his other hand, staring down the hoodlums as they came closer and brandished weapons. "You boys just made our day."

* * *

"So how'd your little peace summit go?" Red Arrow taunted as Batman entered the apartment, instantly drawing everyone's attention. The summit lasted much longer than expected, running two days later than planned to have everything discussed. The dark knight narrowed his eyes at Red Arrow, but ultimately, let the comment slide.

"Two things have been decided. One, a new section of government will be formed to regulate superhumans and their abilities."

He held up a hand, halting their chorus of protests. "Secondly, a school for superhumans is to be made so kids like you can learn how to control their powers."

"Do they think they can control us with a school?" Red Arrow scoffed.

"It's meant to register superhumans and study their powers. I suspect they intend the school to work as try outs, for superhumans capable of carrying out their own agendas, and for getting rid of potential threats," Batman revealed darkly.

"Just who do they expect is going to join this school?"

"The League has stepped in to teach students and combat personal agendas of the government. Red Tornado and Black Canary will be joining the school as teachers. As of now, the school is non-mandatory. Only superhumans who volunteer to attend are being enrolled. For you five, that is a different story."

"No way," Green Lantern said, her draw dropping in disbelief.

"Don't say it, Batsy," KF warned, scooting as far away in his seat as he could.

"To show our good will and hope to work together towards a better future, the five of you will be attending the school's opening."

"Not happening," Red Arrow announced, almost red in his anger at the news.

"Superhero school? We're already superheroes," KF argued, receiving agreeing nods from his teammates.

"The discussion of the matter is closed. You're each to report back to your mentors. You can take your grievings out on them. Dismissed."

* * *

Jan. 10, 2017. 10:30 pm.

"Dad," a tall, slim-toned girl said as she stood in the doorway of their small cabin. She stood silently against the door frame, a troubled expression on her face as she watched her father sit up quickly upon her arrival. The news was on and she could tell by his posture alone that he was deeply troubled. He turned at the sound of her voice, his countenance betraying everything he was thinking. Frankie inwardly flinched at his expression. He was scared for her.

"Hey, chipmunk." He cleared his throat and tried to recover himself. Frankie looked down guiltily, but smiled to herself all the same. He gave her that nickname when she was kid. Her parents told her that when she was very young and they would go hiking, she had such a natural affinity among the woods unlike anyone they had ever seen. One day, they said a chipmunk had come right up to her, They said it didn't leave her side until they got back to the city. Since then, they called her chipmunk.

Her father quickly turned off the TV, wanting to shield his daughter from the chaos going on in the outside world. The room fell silent between them, neither knowing what to say.

"You hungry? Explore any cool caves today?" Her dad started weakly, hoping to ease the tension in the room.

"Dad, I need to talk to you about something."

Her father closed his eyes, stopping in the kitchen doorway. He felt a weight in his chest as he instantly knew where this was going. He bit his lip, biting back an immediate 'no' from spilling out. Every bone in his body wanted to reject what she was about to say and take her back home to the reservation where she grew up, where he knew she was safe. But he knew his daughter better than that.

"Don't tell me. You fell in love and now you're running away and getting hitched?" He joked, again trying to lighten the situation.

Frankie clenched her teeth hard, steeling her resolve in her decision. "I'm leaving, Dad."

He flinched as if he had just been slapped. Even though he knew what she would say, he couldn't hide the stricken look on his face. Avoiding his daughter's burning green eyes, he shifted uncomfortably in the doorway. "Damn, I was really hoping it was the other one."

"Dad," Frankie said, hoping he would start taking things seriously soon, She clenched her fists tightly, feeling tears begin to well up in her eyes. Normally, she was nothing like this. In fact, the only time she had shed her rough exterior was when her mom died and her dad moved them to California. She was being completely uncharacteristic, but in this moment, she only felt scared and weak.

"There's nothing I can do to stop you, is there?" Her dad guessed in a defeated tone, finally meeting her gaze.

Frankie could only nod, afraid if she opened her mouth, he'd here the trembling in her voice.

"It's dangerous out there, Frankie. Especially now. There's talk of internment camps for goodness sake!"

Frankie looked away as her father raised his voice. He was just as scared for her as she was for him. Since her mom died, the two of them were all they had. They lived in the mountains, far away from any foreign contact. The idea of leaving her sheltered life, and leaving her dad alone, gave her great pain, but she had made her decision.

"Frankie, I don't get why you can't just stay here in the park and lead a simple life. There's no heroes and villains here. No news outlets, no press. You could grow old here and use your powers freely if you wanted. Why reveal yourself to those vultures now? You're too young to go out into the world by yourself! You're in highschool, you're graduating in a year."

"Dad. I thought a lot about this. The school will teach me things I can't learn on my own. If I'm going to make this world a better place, I'm going to need that kind of knowledge. And if this whole superhuman issue is going to get resolved, people will want to see a person like me subtly making the world better for mankind without going around destroying buildings!" Frankie pleaded and took a deep breath, steadying herself. She felt her confidence grow, now that she was able to put a word in.

"Frankie, it's too dangerous!"

"Dad, I'm not trying to be a superhero!" Frankie shouted back, determined to defend her position. "I only want to make the world a better place like you and Mom. My abilities and the knowledge you gave me can help with that. I'm not going to run around in brightly colored tights and fight supervillains. I'm just going to school."

Her dad sighed angrily, turning away from her and slumping his shoulders in defeat. He groaned a little, his hand grazing over the silver-spattered hair as he rubbed his head roughly. "I don't know where you get it from, Frankie. Your mom was a bit of a spitfire herself, but her flame never burned as brightly as yours."

"I'll be careful," Frankie replied, her nerve falling as she began to say goodbye. "You just take care of yourself, okay?"

Frankie's dad smiled slightly and moved forward to scoop his daughter into a giant hug. "What do you think is going to happen in these woods? I'm safe as can be."

"That's not what I mean," Frankie mumbled into him, her face pressed somewhere between his chest and arm as she hugged him close.

Her father sighed again and hugged her tighter, resting his chin atop her head. "Alright, Chipmunk. I'll be careful. The same goes for you too. I don't want to hear about my wild daughter running loose on the streets in a cape, you hear?"

"Ugh, as if. Do you really think I'd be caught dead in one of those outfits?"

He smiled. "Well you never know."

The two parted slightly, her dad keeping his hands on his daughter's shoulders while she stepped back to wipe a stray tear. He smiled down at her, his heart swelling with pride for the girl he had raised. He was damn sure if her mother were still around, she'd be proud of their daughter too.

"I'm only two hours away, just down the coast," Frankie said, as if that would make him worry any less.

"I know. I'll be sure to visit soon and see how you're adjusting," he nodded, before adding, "Frankie, do me a favor and make a friend or two on your first day? Don't be too rough with them."

Frankie turned away, her cheeks turning a soft pink against the tan of her skin. "Alright, I'll try."

"You will," her father reprimanded sternly. Frankie simmered quietly before repeating him.

"Fine."

"Good girl."

"I'm going to miss you, Dad." Frankie's scowl quickly became a frown as she struggled to push down her tears.

"I'm going to miss you too, Frankie." He pulled her in for a hug one last time. He felt her pull away and looked down at her. She was keeping her head down, using her bangs to cover her undoubtedly, sniveling face. She sniffed quickly, readjusting her bag before turning towards the door of their cabin. She threw open the door and ran outside without another word, slamming it shut behind her. And then, she was gone.

* * *

Posted January 14th, 2017. 12:43 pm.

"Helllllloooooo, YouTubers! How are my Summers family? It's your boy, Dorian, coming at you with another video where I react to the US-Justice League Peace Summit and the reforms that came out of it."

"Before I continue, like and subscribe my video and become part of the Summers family. Please, for me?"

The boy in the video laughed and winked at the camera. He was cute, undoubtedly, with dirty blond hair and electric, blue eyes. He smiled charmingly at the camera before continuing on, "So, as you guys all know, I'm a superhuman. I have the power over water. Its pretty cool. I should probably just show you-"

The video cut to him playing with a water gun with some of his friends. It was clearly meant for comedy, which he proved when he laughed and turned to the camera, joking, "Just kidding."

The video then cut to the boys out in the woods where Dorian could clearly be seen controlling a surmountable amount of water. They had expertly filmed the scenario where it looked as if a real battle was going on. While his friends choreographed false attacks against him, Dorian displayed grand displays of tricks which he used to 'eliminate' his enemies. Accompanied by some upbeat music, and Dorian actually looked like he was a star in a hit movie.

The video cut back to the boy alone in his room as he went on to explain his thoughts. "Yeah, so I don't have a secret identity. I don't have anything to hide. My name is Dorian Summers, just turned 16. I live way out in Wisconsin."

He laughed, "Definitely no supervillains here. But I am a superhuman and all the things in the news recently are really going to directly affect me, so I'm going to talk about it right here, in this video."

"Personally, I feel heroes are heroes. They saved the world and a lot of lives countless times. Their whole existence is amazing. Yeah, people get hurt in the process, but when you're going up against villains like Joker and Darkseid, casualties are bound to happen. I think people should be thinking about what would happen if heroes weren't around to stop these villains. A lot more people would be dead. And just trying to stop them by placing laws around them, it's like- weakening the greatest weapon mankind has. It's just- it doesn't make any sense to me."

He laughed and shook his head, giving the camera a bright smile. "I'm sorry guys. I'm trying not to say anything to offend anyone. Like I said, these are just my opinions."

"So yeah, now the Justice League and US government have agreed to work together to build a section of government for the regulations and control of superhumans, and I'm not sure how I feel about it yet. I mean I trust the man in blue a lot, but giving people like politicians and senators power over what we do makes me a bit worried. Don't get me wrong, I think some great decisions have been made by these people and I trust them- I mean they run our country right?- but as to who will be running this section of government, it has yet to be announced. So I'm probably going to make another video on this subject when more information gets released. I'll link it in the video whenever that happens."

"Moving on, the other thing that came out of this conference is that a school for young superhumans like me is to be established. The goal for that is to register young superhumans and teach them how to control their powers, which I think is awesome. Actually, you guys, I have a surprise for you. I actually enrolled in the school. Starting in a week, I am going to be a student at the League Academy! I'm so psyched for this guys! It's going to be awesome! I can't wait! I'm going to take a little time off from my channel to move and settle in, and then I'll tell you guys all about the school, what it's like, who's there! It's going to be awesome. Check my channel. I'll be uploading it soon. Thank you guys so much for watching. If you liked the video, please give me a thumbs up and subscribe to my channel. I'll see you guys next time!"

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **Hello all, I hope you enjoyed the second chapter. I was able to introduce three new heroes! Since I didn't receive any Japanese branch OCs yet, this chapter is for the American's side. Also, I'm quite interested in writing for new villains as well, so if you have a great villain in mind send them in.**

 **For Dorian's OC I wanted his introduction to be as if you were watching a Youtube video because that's a key point to his character since he is an internet celebrity, hence why his introduction is mostly dialogue.**

 **In other news, I'm also trying to keep events and DC universe villain reference down to a minimum right now. I do want this to be more based on Young Justice television line, so if I make up something or say an out of place cameo it's because I'm trying to avoid DC storylines the best I can haha.**

 **And yeah, that was the second chapter. Next time, I'll be happy to introduce new characters in the school and hopefully I'll get some OCs so I can write for the villain and Japanese line. Thank you guys for reading! Send in your OCs!**


	3. Wander

７月３０日 １９：５２

Haru Tokai saw the two men a mile away. They stood out like headlights in a fog despite the festival crowd. Two men, with more spirits attached to their souls than any he'd ever seen. The female spirits swirled around the men in a frenzy, unbeknownst to the chattering crowd. Occasionally something would set them off, and they'd rise high into the air, only to shoot back down towards the men with great force, whirring around them violently.

Haru followed behind quietly. He floated amongst the crowd, going with the flow as he kept a good distance away, trying not to be detected. The men were murderers and about to kill again if the spirits of the women they killed were this upset. He continued ahead, staring down the men icily. He reached into his pocket, pulling out a surgical mask and putting it on to give some discretion to his identity. Without trying to call too much attention to himself, he tried to flag down one of the furious spirits so he could talk to them.

"Hey mister."

Haru started at the voice, turning around quickly to the owner of the voice. A kid, still dressed in his elementary school gear, floated beside him, looking up at him expectantly. "So you can see me!"

Haru felt his heart sink as he realized the kid was dead. He had a sneaking suspicion he knew why, but hoped he was wrong. "Are you with them?"

The boy frowned and pointed at the men. "That's mama over there. Those men killed us."

Haru drew his lips in a line, discreetly clenching his fists as he looked upon the men with pure disgust.

"They're going to kill again," the boy announced with a jaded expression. It seemed he had been through this once or twice before.

"No, they're not," Haru promised, throwing up his hood and grabbing the boy's hand, hurrying to follow after the men.

"It's the woman over there," the boy pointed to a pretty woman in white, walking towards the riverbank with her son to watch the fireworks display. Tonight was a famous festival in Japan. Every year, during the summer, a magnificent display of fireworks would line the riverbanks for everyone to enjoy. As expected, two brilliant fireworks lit up the sky, drawing everyone's attention to the magnificent display.

Haru's eyes widened as he rushed forward, seeing the men in front do the same. The fireworks provided the perfect cover. One of them snuck behind the woman and drugged her with a chloroform rag. She passed out almost immediately, slumping in the man's arms as the other quickly retrieved her lower body. The two began to carry her out of sight, into the trees that lined the river bank.

Haru broke out of the dazzled crowd and sprinted after them as fast as he could. He flew through the trees, bulldozing through the branches and twigs that stood in his way. When he finally found them, the men glared at him contemptuously, brandishing knives in their hands.

"Looks like someone caught us," the man in the back said darkly. They moved to kill him, but Haru didn't wait for them to make a move first. Neither had the time to react as Haru pushed both back with a telekinetic wave.

"What the hell?"

"Take him out," the other ordered, coming after Haru with his knife. Haru jumped off the ground and rose into the air to safety. Making sure to stay under the cover of the trees, he applied telekinetic pressure to the second criminal, forcing him against the ground. He struggled against Haru's hold, but was unable to even lift a finger. Haru pushed harder, knocking the man out as he caved under the pressure.

Haru fell back to the ground and surveyed for the other man, but he had disappeared.

"Here," one of the spirits cried, pointing into the darkness of the trees. Haru turned, only to see a dagger coming his way. He avoided it nimby, extending his hand out towards the darkness at the same time. Hiis powers wrapped around his arm and extended with his hand, seizing the man and pulling him out of the trees. The man struggled frightenedly against Haru's invisible grip as he went behind him knocked him hard in the back of the skull. The man slumped and Haru released his powers, letting him fall to the floor.

Haru straightened up shakily, breathing in deeply as he tried to brush off his adrenaline. He went up to the surviving mother. She'd probably have a killer headache, but she was safe. Thanks to him.

Haru smiled to himself, swelling with pride at his first heroic act. He beamed at the ghost kid who helped him, receiving an equally bright smile back.

"You're amazing!" the kid pronounced, throwing his hands up and running around in circles.

"He can see us?" one of the other ghosts asked.

"Sir, if you can see us, from the bottom of our hearts, thank you!" another ghost said, approaching him carefully before falling to her knees and clasping her hands in prayer.

The other spirits followed suit, each thanking him passionately for his rescue. Haru's eyes widened, struck by the intensity of their gratitude.

"I just wanted to stop them from hurting anyone."

"Thanks to you, we can live in peace knowing these men will be out behind bars," an older spirit thanked, giving a wicked scorn towards the men.

"You have no idea how much it pained us to see them go after woman after woman and be powerless to stop it," another ghost said. "Thank you."

Haru became at a loss for words as he fully began to realize his actions had done far more than save just one life. An unknown feeling welled up inside of him, one he could not identify. He felt pride and hope, mixed with sorrow and grieving.

As he struggled to figure out his emotions, more rustling interrupted his thoughts. Fearfully, both he and the spirits prepared for the worst, for the appearance of perhaps another enemy, but what came was a tall, foreign woman accompanied by a small child.

"Mama!" the kid dashed forward and ran to his fallen mother. Haru froze, frightened of being caught in the act, even if he was the one doing the saving. The young woman looked between him and the child cautiously, assessing Haru's potential to be a threat. Not until her eyes landed on the fallen criminals, did she seem to relax.

"What happened here?"

Recovering himself, Haru retreated further into his hood, nervously debating if he should stay or run and hide. He had no time to decide, however, as the girl closed the distance between them and held his hand.

Haru blushed deeply, startled by the sudden contact. The girl studied his reaction carefully, before sighing in relief and letting go. "You're not an enemy, are you?"

She turned away from him and reassessed the scene as Haru was still too stricken to manage a response. The girl frowned as the young boy was still crying over his unconscious mother. She went to him and cradled him softly. "Don't worry. Your mother is okay. The nice man over there saved her. She's just a bit tired. I'll call an ambulance and police for her okay?"

The boy continued crying loudly as his mother slept quietly in the grass. The girl pulled out her phone, quickly relating what happened to the person on the other line. She stayed where she was with the child as she tucked her phone in her pocket and turned to him again. "The boy said some men took his mother this way. Judging the situation, you saved her, didn't you?"

"Y-yes," Haru stuttered, somehow embarrassed to admit his heroism.

"Shuhei," the rescued mother mumbled, coming to at the sound of her child's screams. The boy wiggled out of the girl's arms and ran to his mother, clinging and crying against her. The mother sat up, holding a hand to her head. "What happened?"

"Some very bad men tried to hurt you," the girl explained plainly. "The man there saved you."

"Oh!" the mother gasped as she recalled the events that happened. She clasped her hand over her mouth and sobbed, sickened by what the men almost did to her. She turned her surprised gaze to Haru, "Oh! Thank you! Thank you so much!"

She cried freely, continuing to thank him. Haru went quiet, once again taken aback by the power of which someone could feel. Again, the same feeling from before grew in him. He was able to identify it now. It was a sense of duty, one that made him want to save more people. His purpose was to protect people.

"You're welcome," he finally managed.

"Ma'am, can you walk?" the girl asked, bending down next to her.

"Yes," the mother said, slowly getting to her feet and picking her child up in her arms.

"I'm going to take them back up the bank and to the ambulance. Do you mind staying here and watching over those bastards until the police arrive?"

Haru nodded, berating himself silently for not thinking to help the mother. He turned away from them as the girl led them out. The ambulance and police had arrived and were already making their way down to meet them halfway.

"We'll take it from here," the paramedics said, moving in to help the woman and child.

"You're the girl who made the call?" the police asked.

"Yes. The men who attacked her are disarmed in the forest," she announced.

Nodding, one of the police officers broke off to detain the two while the other stayed behind and pulled out a notepad. "I'll need you to make a statement. Can you speak Japanese?"

"Yes," the girl said. She got that a lot because of her appearance, but she had studied enough in her home in America to manage simple conversations. "I came across the boy on the bridge. He was alone. At first I thought he was lost, but then he said his mother was taken. I lead him in the direction he said she was taken. By then, the men had been taken down by another man, around my age."

"Another guy, huh?" the police officer said, gaining an affirming nod from the girl.

"What's your name? I need it for the report."

"Zuzu Grey, sir."

"I got the two handcuffed down at the bank. Did you find out how they were knocked out?" the other officer asked as he ran back up to meet the two.

"There was no man there at the bank with them?" the first police officer asked as Zuzu held a surprised expression.

"A man? Didn't see one," the other officer said, scratching his head.

"Left the scene, huh? Can you describe him for me?"

"Tall," Zuzu began, wondering where to start. "In truth, he was wearing a hood and a mask. I could only see his eyes."

The officer sighed and set down his notepad. "Alright, well, we have your number from the call before. We'll contact you if we need anything more. You're free to go."

Zuzu nodded, bowing to the officers and taking her leave. Her mind went to the mysterious boy as she ran off to find him. She wondered why he had left when the officers came. She became overwhelmed by her curiosity as she scanned the streets for any sign of him.

"A boy like that," she wondered to herself, theorizing where he would go after an event like that.

* * *

Haru sighed to himself, staring at the yakitori skewers he ordered in silent contemplation as he thought about what happened. He was very happy with himself, but when the officers came, he ran. He didn't want his identity to be found out. He decided that if he was going to become a superhero, or at least, save a few people here and there, he'd have to keep his identity a secret.

Sighing, he removed his mask to eat his skewers. At nearly the same time, a hand suddenly slammed down on the table next to him. Haru nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound, swallowing a piece of chicken whole by mistake.

"Ha! Knew it was you!" Zuzu bragged as she came up next to him and sat herself down. Haru hammered on his chest, keeping himself from choking as the girl made herself comfortable. Ignoring his ordeal, the girl waved her hand, signaling towards the owner she was ready to order.

Haru coughed, clearing his throat as he finally passed the chicken. He reached for his water and drank heavily as he peeked at the girl. She was staring straight at him with an expectant look in her eyes. Haru froze, avoiding eye contact with her. Truthfully, he admitted to knowing the girl, though not personally. She was a foreign exchange student at his school. She, like all the other foreign kids, stood out amongst the university's population, making her easily recognizable to anyone in the school.

They never introduced themselves, but Haru wasn't keen on doing so anytime soon. He continued drinking his water, hoping the girl may leave it he didn't talk, but she waited patiently until finally, he had no more water to drink.

Haru coughed again, turning away from her as she scooted her seat closer. "Hey, why did you run away earlier?"

"No reason," Haru answered, ducking his head and avoiding eye contact with the girl.

"Liar," Zuzu accused, but let it go as she was served her food. She dug into one of the skewers happily as Haru contemplated an escape from his corner of the food stall.

"So how did you take down those criminals?"

"Luck, I guess?" Haru answered, mortified to be having this discussion. This was the precise reason he had run away from the police, to avoid an interrogation, and now here he was being confronted by his classmate.

"Luck is landing a punch or two. You took two men down," Zuzu pointed out, placing her skewer on her plate as she leaned in and observed him closer. "What's your name?"

"Haru."

"Mine's Zuzu," she introduced. "So, Haru, you aren't particularly muscularly, but you survived a fight like that without so much as a scratch."

Haru went silent, either from embarrassment or pure nerves. He was worried she was catching on to him. Zuzu observed him closer for another minute as he refused response. Finally, she smiled to herself and backed off. Pulling out her wallet, she took out a large amount of cash and placed it on the counter.

"Consider it a gift, as thanks for saving that woman today," she smiled lightly, fixing her hair and wiping her mouth with a napkin as she paid and left the shop without another word.

Haru breathed a huge sigh of relief as she left. His focus went to the money on the counter. He wasn't exactly sure what to do with it. Did it make him less of a hero if he accepted it?

Sighing, he pocketed the cash since he had no other option. God forbid he run into the girl again, but maybe he could return it one day without her notice.

He clucked his tongue and went back to eating quietly as he thought the events of the day over. It felt good to be a hero.

* * *

January, 20th, 2017. 6:33 pm.

Jump City was a big change for Frankie Garcia. She had hitched a ride from her dad's ranger friend after she left home. He had dropped her off in a small town outside the national park. Even then, she felt dizzy by the sudden change in environment. As someone who could empathically feel the health of the environment, the change was monumental. Even more so now, that she had finally arrived in Jump City. She'd have to take periodic breaks as she explored her new home, having to adjust to the new environment. She trekked through Jump City in a bit of a daze until finally making it down to the harbor.

"Woah," she breathed as just beyond the port, stood a grand, tower of a school atop a solitary island in the middle of the bay. The school itself was a gothic-styled piece of modern architecture. The way the building was designed allowed minimal view of the inside, despite the entire front being made of glass windows. They accomplished this by slicing the windows in triangular halves and replacing half the glass with a one-way visible, frosted aperture. This made the building sparkle like diamonds against the setting sun as the sky behind it radiated cool shades of orange and red.

Next to the main campus, she assumed were the dormitories. Built upon a lower level of the island the dorms were more hidden by the small forest around it. Aside from the dormitories being the same color as campus, she could not make much else out. She took a few steps closer and breathed in the salty, sea breeze. She sighed contentedly as the air came in clean. She was happy she would still be able to live amongst the trees and nature in her new home, even with the major size reduction. Feeling a little less nervous, she headed to her left where she assumed the docks and a boat to take her across would be. However, upon her arrival, she became a bit worried to see a crowd gathered at the end of the dock. Noticing a few reporters around, she instinctively pulled up the hood of her jacket to avoid being seen. Quietly weaving through the crowd, she made it to the front where she could see the crew of the ships hurriedly making repairs on the largest ferry.

"It's broken?" she wondered aloud, wondering what could've happened. As she said this another loud voice rose out over hers as a lively, young teen broke ahead of the crowd with a selfie stick.

"Okay, guys, as you can see behind me, the ferries have been shut down. Apparently, they're all going through repairs. Personally, I think it's a test from the League. But anyways, no ferries means no way of getting to the League Academy," he began and smiled at the camera. "Fortunately, for me though, I have ways of my own getting there."

"Young man, you there!" One of the reporters spoke up, "would you happen to be one of the new, young superhumans joining the League Academy?"

"Why, yes, I would," the boy grinned, introducing himself. "My name is Dorian Summers."

"Please, spare us a moment for an interview."

"Why, I'd love to. You can reference my YouTube channel, DorianSummers, for any questions. In the meantime, I'm needed elsewhere," he announced as he turned towards the bay and prepared to leap off. He waved and flashed a salute before running towards the side of the pier and jumping off over the barriers. Everyone surged forward to catch a glimpse of the boy, each thoroughly engaged with his performance. As they leaned over the railing, they could see the boy standing atop the water. He summoned a small wave to carry him across the ocean. He started off shaky, but quickly got the hang of it and was soon blasting through the waters at high-speed.

"Well, there you have it folks. New superheroes have arrived in Jump City," the reporter announced to their camera with a smile as the crowd cheered behind them.

"Get to the Academy on your own, huh?" Frankie thought aloud, having listened to the entire performance of the other hero. She strapped her bag tighter to her and made her way to an opening in the crowd against the barriers. She peered down into the waters, making sure she wanted to continue forward with her decision.

Apparently, she waited long enough for a kid next to her to find interest in her. She looked at the kid with a curious stare as it turned up at her with a stupidly, excited smile, thinking she would do something cool too. Frankie stifled a laugh and smiled back at the kid, raising one finger to her lips and signaling her to be quiet. She nimbly hopped atop the barrier and stared down into the ocean, before diving in.

"Was that another super?" the crowd behind her murmured as they each clamored to get a view of the girl who dived into the sea. Frankie looked back at them from beneath the waves and smirked. She wouldn't be taking such a flashy exit as her predecessor. Instead, she stuck beneath the waves and pressed herself against one of the pillars of the dock. Adjusting herself into a comfortable position, she pushed off from the pillar and darted through the water faster than the kid before her.

Back home, she didn't have a wide, open ocean to swim about freely. Before she knew it, she was grinning against the waves as she pushed herself to test how fast she could go. She darted back and forth, flexing the skills of her agility as well. Her training was soon cut short though, as she began to come up upon the shore of the island. She slowed, making it into the shallow water of the island before using her own power to heave herself ashore. She coughed with the unpleasant taste of saltwater and trekked into the sand, wringing out her clothes and hair along the way.

"Woah, holy crap!"

Frankie's eyes widened at the shout and she instinctively threw up her hood again. She peered out beneath her hood, spying the same boy from before not far off into the distance. He started running up to her, camera in hand. Frankie was glad she put up her hood.

"You're that girl from before! Jeez, you really gave me a scare. I wasn't expecting anyone to follow me. I figured you were a super by the way you stood in the crowd. Your body language showed you wanted to shy away from my uproar rather than see what I could do, but I didn't expect you to rise up out of the waves all Jason Voorhees on me!"

Frankie froze to her spot, eyes wide as the boy spoke so quickly she could barely even register what he was saying. She shook her head, regaining herself. She stood up straighter and angled her body where the camera would have a hard time filming her. "Sorry."

"No, no worries!" The boy laughed, raising up two hands. "It made for some good video quality. My name's Dorian. I'm an internet persona on YouTube who likes to show-off my powers. What's your name? How did you get here? What powers do you have?"

Frankie stopped her hike to get off the sandy shore as he introduced himself. She frowned and turned back towards him quickly, still keeping her identity hidden beneath her hood. "Are you sure you should be going around filming this and letting everyone know who we are and what exactly is going on here?"

Dorian paused, surprised by the edge in her tone, but he shrugged it off quickly and ran to catch up with her. "Well, you're not the first to tell me that. So how did you get here?"

"I swam," Frankie announced as she tried ignoring the boy and continued walking up the island.

"Swam?" the boy asked doubtfully, keeping pace with her.

"Yup," Frankie said, unwilling to give up more information whe she was being filmed for a public audience.

"Cool!" the boy exclaimed, accepting her bare response as an answer. "So, like, you superswim or something?"

"Look, sorry if I don't want to talk to you right now, but I'm drenched, and just want to get to the island so I can clean up and go to bed. I'm also none too interested in revealing my identity to the whole world just so you can have some followers, or whatever it is that YouTube gets," she barked out, finally making it onto solid ground, which lessened her irritability only slightly.

"Whoops, my bad," the boy backed off, holding his hands in the air again. He paid no mind to her cutting remarks, her harsh words bouncing off him like nothing. "Totally should've known when you avoided the camera. Got carried away. Here, let me help you. I can dry your clothes."

Frankie stopped as he pleaded an apology. She turned on her heel once again and gave him an expectant look beneath her hood as she waited.

"Okay, stand still," Dorian instructed, putting his camera down and focusing all his attention on Frankie. He held his hand out in front of him, gathering his concentration before pushing it forward. Although his goal was to push all the water Frankie had absorbed off her clothes, he succeeded only in pushing the poor girl off her feet and onto the ground.

"Oops! I'm so sorry!" He exclaimed, dashing to help her up. Frankie glared at him as she accepted the help, brushing off her now dirty bottoms.

"Let me try one more time! Swear I won't trip you!" Dorian begged and clasped his hands together. Frankie huffed and put her hands on his hips, figuring she might as well let him try.

"Okay, should've probably called the water forward instead of back," Dorian berated himself, once again holding his hand in front of him. This time he focused closely on Frankie and started closing his hand as if he was squeezing an invisible object. Upon his command, the water pulled off Frankie's clothes and gathered in a ball before Dorian's eyes.

Dorian laughed in pleasure, excitedly looking to Frankie for her reaction. Her clothes were still damp, but not nearly as soaking as they were before. "Not bad."

"Oh yeah!" Dorian exclaimed, throwing up his hands and jumping for joy. "I've got this hero thing in the bag!"

Frankie rolled her eyes and readjusted her bag. "Come on. You have to make it to the academy first before you start saying that."

"Never too early to start celebrating," Dorian countered, practically dancing alongside her as the pair hiked further up the island.

"So what can I call you? -No worries! Camera's off!" Dorian asked, before clarifying himself.

"Um, Muir," Frankie said, giving him her hero name since she wasn't too sure whether to disclose her real identity to him or not.

"Cool! Is that your superhero name?" Dorian asked animatedly.

"Um," Frankie paused, thinking to herself. She wasn't sure if it was her superhero name. She'd never have to introduce herself as a hero before, or hide her identity. She did think about it hypothetically once, as a kid. She ran around the woods calling herself Muir, after John Muir, who helped to preserve some of her favorite national forests. She'd almost forgotten about that time, until it suddenly popped back in her head when he asked the question. "Yeah, I guess."

"Sweet! Mine's Poseidon! You know, like king of the sea?" Dorian proclaimed proudly.

"I'm pretty sure that's Aquaman," Frankie commented, before realizing what she said could potentially hurt the boy's feelings. She looked back worriedly, but was surprised when he replied back happily.

"I know. That's why I'm going to surpass him one day, so the name can belong to me alone."

Frankie scoffed, "Some spunky kid you are."

Dorian nodded next to her, proudly admitting the trait. "So what's with the hood? Secret identity stuff? Major scar?"

Frankie laughed inwardly. Though he was quite boundless in energy, and she was sure he would no doubt annoy her in the future, Frankie had to admit his warm personality could probably rub off on anyone. "Well if the camera's off…"

Frankie dropped her hood and turned around to give him a good look at her face. She had short hair, still messy from the ocean. Her bangs stuck to her face, still a little bit wet, but that only brightened the dark green of her eyes. She was fairly tan, and her face was spattered with a number of freckles.

"Cool," Dorian commented, then sputtered with his words, "Um, no mask or hood for me to pull down. This is me."

Frankie rolled her eyes and shook her head as the two kept on, trading information with each other. It wasn't long before they got to the base of the school. Several people stood out front, talking amongst each other. Upon their arrival, the group turned their attention to them. One they instantly recognized as Black Canary broke from the group and came up to them. "Welcome, new students. Let me be the first one to congratulate you on your courage to come here during these trying times."

"No way! It's Black Canary!" Dorian squealed, fumbling for his camera and turning it on hastily. "Can you say that one more time for my subscribers?"

Black Canary's eyes widened in surprise by his forwardness. Eventually, she cleared her throat and settled for a brief 'welcome'. "Now, kids, what are your names?"

"Uh, do you mean our superhero names or our normal ones?" Dorian asked.

"I suspect most students will prefer to know everyone on a personal level. But if you'd prefer to keep your identity a secret, that's fine too," Canary informed.

"Dorian Summers."

"Um, you can just call me Muir for now," Frankie said, seeing as Dorian had continued his live recording.

"Great, well, let me introduce you to my colleagues," Canary said, gesturing to the group of adults that had now approached them.

"Turn the camera off, kid," a man who looked straight out of the military said, smiling predatory at the smaller boy.

"Sorry," Dorian mumbled, clearly intimidated as he powered down his device.

"This is, as you know, Red Tornado," Canary introduced one by one. "He and I will be the first Leaguers to join the academy and watch over you."

"Pleased to make your acquaintance," Red Tornado greeted.

Black Canary smiled and moved on to the next person. The woman wore a white lab coat over her normal clothes and looked near Black Canary's twin. She had long blonde hair, which she pulled back into an elegant bun, and sparkling blue eyes. However, her features held more warmth in their frame as she smiled up at the group. "This is Natalia Monroe. She will be the headmaster of our school."

"Pleasure to meet you," she smiled politely at them through red-painted lips. "Thank you for coming. I work under Senator Finch. She personally asked me to oversee the Academy's progress."

"Nice to meet you," the two younger ones greeted back.

Canary smiled at their response, though quickly frowned when she had to introduce the next three characters. "This is Mr. Fite and Mr. Maad. They're our security here, and will be teaching our physical education classes when I am not around."

"Security? In a school for superheroes?" Dorian joked, laughing at the absurdity of the thought.

"You never know kid. A school full of heroes can attract a lot of bad attention," the taller of the two pointed out, Mr. Fite.

"When you train and take on one of us, if you can beat us, then maybe you're joke is as funny as you think it is," the other said with a taunting smile, Mr. Maad.

Dorian held his tongue, giving the two an uneasy look as he began to reassess his initial thoughts on them. Black Canary frowned deeper, and moved on to introduce the last, before being cut off by him.

"You can call me Mr. Herrera. I'm your behavioral counselor," the largely built man from before introduced.

"Military?" Dorian asked with a horrified expression. The man, though not the largest he's seen, was certainly large in character, and his signature smirk was none too settling.

Herrera ticked his head to the side and shrugged, "If you want me to be."

Dorian inwardly shuddered, a bit worried now in exactly what he had signed up for. So far, it wasn't exactly what he was expecting.

"That's enough of introductions for now. I'll take you to your rooms," Canary announced, already heading towards a path that led to the forest.

"Sleep well," Ms. Monroe bid farewell cheerily as the two hurried after Canary, thankful to get out of the thick tension that surfaced with the last three.

"Government personnel," Black Canary explained once they were far enough away. "The school is a building project between the League and the new Department of Superhuman Affairs, headed by Senator Finch. Anyone who's not with the League is working for someone else with their own agendas."

"The creeps from before?" Dorian asked, keeping close to avoid being left behind.

"Yes," Canary confirmed. "Whatever reason you came here, you're going to need to stick by passionately. You've come here so, they already have everything they need to track you down and find you, so leaving now because of fear, is pointless. Welcome to the Academy."

* * *

Frankie sighed in deeply as she returned to her room and plopped down in her bed. She wore a white T-shirt and some plain shorts while all her things washed in the laundry room. She peered down at her clothes, the gym outfit provided by the school. On both the pieces, bore the school's insignia.

"Dedicated to justice, and saving those in need," Frankie read around the main symbol. In the center was a small embroidered sphere that resembled the Earth, surrounded by several exquisite rings. "What does this mean?"

Her musings were interrupted as a knock sounded on her door. She shot up quickly, bringing her feet up to her bed and crouching as she anticipated a threat. "Who is it?"

"Um, hi. My name is M'gann. I'm a new student here. I think we live across the hall from each other. I was hoping maybe we can be friends?" a sweet sounding girl introduced herself shyly from the other side of the door.

Frankie bristled with visible discomfort, but relaxed her position. She settled into a criss-cross seated position and folded her arms in front of her as she looked away from the door. "Um, yeah sure, come in."

The door opened to reveal Miss Martian standing in the doorway, nervously holding one arm as she managed a friendly wave.

"Oh," Frankie started, surprised by her appearance. She looked down, blushing slightly as she finished awkwardly, "You're green."

"Yeah," Megan laughed embarrassedly, "I'm Martian Manhunter's niece, M'gann M'orzz, but you can call me Megan. It's an Earth name."

"Okay," Frankie said, nodding, but still avoiding eye contact with the alien.

"Um, what's your name?"

"Oh, it's Muir," Frankie blushed, not quite used to introducing herself to others. Actually, the amount of time she had to do so could probably be counted with the number of fingers she had.

"Um, so what can you do?" Megan asked, attempting to fill the silence.

"Sorry, I'm not used to talking with so many people in one day," Frankie cut in, then blushed when she realized she completely missed the question.

"That's okay!" Megan put up her hands and waved them frantically. "I only know how to greet people through Earth television shows! You're actually the first person I've met."

Megan squeaked when she realized how lame she must've sounded. She clapped her hands to her mouth, hoping Frankie was hard of hearing.

Frankie smiled softly, feeling a bit more relieved after Megan's confession. "Oh, so I guess we're both pretty bad at this?"

"I guess so," Megan laughed. She shuffled her feet, still standing outside the door. "May I come in?"

"Oh! Yeah!" Frankie exclaimed, berating herself for not offering her entry sooner. She scooted down the bed, making room for Megan to sit down.

"So um, do you have any hobbies?" Megan asked as the girls slowly got to know one another, eventually becoming more comfortable with each other throughout the night. Meanwhile several other heroes were having a very hard time adjusting.

"Academy for superheroes? What a joke," Wally grumbled, throwing a rock into the forest as he, Robin, Emma and Kaldur sulked over their situation in the woods.

"It's just a school for wannabe kids to want to try a be like Superman," Emma scoffed, using her ring to summon the energy to crack a fallen log in half.

"Dislike it though you may, we all must guide these new students the way our mentors guided us," Aqualad said, standing off to the side with Robin as the other two vented.

"Not Red Arrow. He got out of it," Robin quipped, crossing his arms and simmering to himself.

"Arrow went rogue," Aqualad corrected.

"Yeah, well maybe we should've too," Robin growled out, still none too happy about being forced to attend school. "Being here means we're off the battlefield. We can't take down villains if we're stuck doing homework."

"I believe the League has plans for us they have yet to reveal," Aqualad said, hoping to dissuade Robin from his negative outlook.

"Aquaman tell you that?" Emma asked, tossing a will-projected knife in her hand as she spoke.

"No," Aqualad said, "just a feeling."

"Hmm," Emma taunted brattily as she turned away from him, still tossing the knife in her hand.

"What the hell is this kid doing?" Wally announced, his attention drawn to one of the dorm windows. The others turned their heads in that direction, where a familiar blond boy could be seen parading about his room with a video camera.

"What's he so happy about?" Emma turned up her nose at him, glaring at him.

"Want to find out?" Wally suggested devilishly. Emma gave him a smile of her own mischievous givings, causing Wally to stand.

"Leave the boy alone you two," Kaldur warned, but they were already on the move.

"It is our responsibility to train them," Kaldur tried again, following after them while Robin trailed behind. Again, he was ignored.

"We're heroes, not bullies. If you have some steam to blow off, I suggest you go to the training room," Kaldur scolded them sternly. The two stopped and shared a look. Kaldur sighed in relief. They were done going after the boy, though it seemed he still had a fight on his hands.

"Beach? Midnight?" Wally challenged his female associate.

"No," Emma shook her head and began to stalk off towards the girl's dormitory. "I'm done."

"What do you mean you're done?"

"I mean, Kaldur got me," Emma snapped. "I'll go along with the League. Teach the brats. I'm not a bully."

"So where does that leave me?" Wally shouted as everyone began to split up and retreat into their rooms.

"Go to bed, Wally," Robin said, walking off with Aqualad. Wally groaned aloud, throwing up his hands and stomping off after him. Afterall, tomorrow was their first day of school.

* * *

１月２０日 １４：３５

Japan itself doesn't have many places to live. Too many mountains. Which means the hills and valleys that are liveable are packed with people, and downtown Tokyo is the worst of it all. Haru watched the people scurry about the street like ants from his view in a cafe window. He estimated maybe a hundred people crossed his window every thirty seconds. He isn't not particularly fond of the bustle of the crowd, so he's happy to be tucked away in a cafe with a warm cup of tea.

"Everything okay? Girl catch your fancy?"

Haru soured at the joke and turned to throw a glare at the person seated across from him. Zuzu beamed back at him, a toothy smile broadcasting her mischevious intentions. She dropped her pencil on the table and stretched her arms out with a small moan.

Haru glanced back at her while her torso leaned over the table to stretch, her hands splayed out across his own work. The two were friends now. He watched out of the corner of his eye as she sat back up with a satisfied smile.

He looked back out the window as she turned to him, reminiscing about his second meeting with the girl. He tried to avoid her. He really did. Latched with the secret that he attended the same school as her, he truly did his best to remain hidden out of sight.

He lasted an hour.

She came out of her classroom just as he was passing by in the hallway. He remembered her expression. Pure, shocked excitement radiated from her as she gasped deeply with a smile on her face. He had a similar expression on his face, but his stemmed from the horror he felt at her discovery.

Of course, he tried to shake her off. Managed to that day, but the next, she found him again and sat herself beside him at lunch. She interrogated him each time, but he kept ignored every question, hoping she would get bored and leave. She didn't. Eventually, her ambushes became just that, and the two of them would quietly work on their respective classes in silence until Haru began to enjoy her company.

The two became friends quite naturally in their partnership. Occasionally, she would ask him to explain something in Japanese for her, or she would stare over his shoulder and correct his math homework when he was wrong. They talked smally, her, never bringing up the topic of that night. He learned a lot about her over time. Sometimes she would talk to him in tangent rambles while they did their work and he'd reply with his own information, usually one-worded answers said for the sake of building the conversation. She'd take him out too, get him out of his usual passings between school and home. Sometimes, she wanted to study elsewhere and he'd always accompany her. When they finished late at night, she'd get him to go get dinner with her. She was still hoping she could get him out to drink, but she hadn't managed to yet. And she probably would never, Haru smiled to himself. She even got him to go to the movies or shopping with her once or twice.

Despite their initial tensions, Haru found himself all too willing to go along with her adventures. For a time, he was wary of her. Each kindness he thought as some kind of ploy for him to open up. In hindsight, it probably was, but he was a weak and lonely child. Seeing ghosts and stuff, didn't exactly make him popular as a kid. He was always the weird one with a special fear of the few people in the school, teachers and students alike, with a ghost at their tail. As expected, he didn't grow up with many close friends, a factor she had taken advantage of.

"Did you finish?" Zuzu asked, popping a straw in her mouth and sipping her frappuccino. She peered over to his side of the table, inspecting his papers. Haru sighed and turned back to his work, begrudgingly going back to it before she could scold him. Yes, he thought, she was certainly his closest friend.

"How many of them are like us?" Zuzu said, staring at him focusedly. Haru flinched and glared at her, hard. The girl started, a blush rising to her cheeks as it became her turn to stare out the window.

"Sorry."

He sighed and sat back up in his chair, leaning back as he rubbed his temple. "Stay out of my head, Zu."

"I didn't read your thoughts," she broke her gaze from the glass panel and looked down, guiltily. "It just came to me, like reading it off your forehead."

Like him, Zuzu was abilitied. For a time after they got to know each other, they began to suspect each one of them of superpowers. She, of course, always had the night of the festival in the back of her head to give him suspicion, and she had a frightfully pinpoint intuition to give anyone a second guess if she was truly human.

Yet, neither spoke a word of it to the other, compliant to just remain as they were. However, that relationship changed in early December when Zuzu was on a date with another boy. Haru was patrolling the streets, clad in his new costume when he saw them. He was getting into hero work, doing small heroic acts here and there. He was getting a better feel for the night and his city when the two passed him. Neither noticed him as they walked past, talking and giggling with delight.

Curiosity drew him in as he trailed the blooming couple. Zuzu was popular at school, as were most of the foreign kids. Plenty of guys were eager to date the new girl, taking the chance to brag a new accomplishment.

Zuzu never talked to him about boys, not even other people. Haru found himself curious with the thought. What was she like when not with him?

Perfectly radiant, he thought. She gave bright smiles and all the right answers, enough to charm anyone off their feet in five minutes. He could see why the boy walking her home was hooked. Haru imagined if she gave him that kind of treatment, he'd probably fall for her too, but she didn't. The Zuzu he knew was reserved and calculating, but still able to emit a warm energy.

Lost in thought as he wondered about her personality towards him, he almost didn't notice when her partner pulled her into an alleyway. His heart leapt with fear as she disappeared into the dark with terror in her eyes. He jumped from the rooftop and ran after him. There were no spirits to fuel his power, but he had enough to stop her would-be-assailant. He turned to Zuzu who glared at the man hatefully. He had managed to rip her dress in the short amount of time he had grabbed her.

Haru stepped towards her, wanting to comfort his friend, but stopped himself. It was precisely because she was his friend that he couldn't approach her. He was afraid he'd give himself away. Without another thought, he turned on his heel to retreat when she called out to him.

"Wait."

Haru paused and turned around, using the darkness from the alley to further hide himself. He had a mask and hood on, only the skin from his neck being visible. He told himself there was no possible way she could recognize him, but he froze with fear when she stared at him carefully.

He sighed in relief as she shook it off and continued, "He'll do it again. We can't just leave him."

Haru remained silent, afraid his voice would give him away. Zuzu stared at him hard, waiting for his answer. When she saw it would not come tonight, she relented.

"If you care at all for justice, you will meet me here tomorrow night at one a.m."

She sauntered off, leaving Haru in despair. He saved his friend, yes, but he could do nothing else to shield her. Forced to wear the mask and keep his identity sealed, he let her leave in a mess.

The guilt washed over him in waves.

The next day he felt obliged to meet with her, hoping to check on her and amend his mistakes. He kept his head tucked down as he silently entered the alley. If it werent for his subtle ability to sense people's presence, he wouldn't have seen her. She was tucked into the corner, hidden by the shadows and deadly quiet.

"Don't get me wrong, this isn't revenge," Zuzu started, taking one step into the light. "It's to keep him from hurting someone else."

Haru nodded in reply. He was quiet by nature, but he felt a thick tension in the air. Even if he did find pleasure in the sound of his own voice, he imagined a nod would've been the best response.

Accepting his silent reply, she brushed past him and began to lead the way. How she knew where to go, Haru didn't know. Nor did he want to. He watched her back, following her like a shadow. He bit his lip contemplatively as he noticed her back was tense with anger. Though he didn't deny their schoolmate had to be stopped, he was becoming increasingly concerned as to what measures Zuzu had thought to take.

Still, he remained silent as they moved further away from the main city. They were in suburb areas now, their dark figures casting foreboding shadows against the quiet neighborhood.

"He lives here," Zuzu announced as she stopped in front of a modest house. Haru peered in through the cracks in the curtains. A family was gathered in the living room. He could see the children playing in front of the television while the adults chatted and drank nearby. He looked again, but didn't see their target.

Unease settling in his stomach, he turned to Zuzu. She was staring up at the upper window hard, her expression ice.

Frowning once more, Haru moved them to the neighbors roof across the street, beginning slowly so as not to alarm his friend. He was surprised how easily she accepted it, but noticed that was probably because she turned her attention right back on the window as soon as she was a few inches off the ground. Haru was glad he moved them across the street, worried she might do something rash. It certainly was in her character to do so.

The two could see him from their perch on the roof. He had fallen asleep in his room with the lights on. Vulnerable.

"Turn the lights off," she ordered as she narrowed her eyes.

Haru did as he was told, making the lights in his room flicker off. "What's your plan?"

She closed her eyes and dug in her jacket pocket, procuring a solitary rose in her hand. She held it out to him with an expectant look. "Can you place this on his desk?"

Haru was suspicious, but sensing no harm, he gave his assistance. The rose floated out of her hand as he used his telekinesis to push the rose safely across the street. It paused outside the window as he opened it. Moving some papers aside, he set the rose atop some schoolbooks and turned to Zuzu expectantly.

'Thank you.'

She smiled at him weakly, her lips never moving. Haru sat frozen to his spot as her voice continued in his head.

'I suppose you and me are going to have some things to talk about, won't we, Haru?'

Zuzu smiled a bit wider as Haru gaped like a fish beneath his mask. She turned back to her attacker, the brown of her eyes turning stone black as she focused on the man inside.

The next moment, she was in his head. Whatever pleasant dream he was having vanished as the interior of his mind shook violently with her own fury placed inside. His consciousness warped as Zuzu painted a scene of pure horror for him to relive over and over.

Haru was frantic by the time she returned. Zuzu groaned and held her head, swaying slightly as she returned to reality. Her headache was only slighted more as Haru's panicked thoughts echoed in her head, "Relax, Haru. Your secret's safe with me."

'How long have you known?' Zuzu reeled as all of Haru's thoughts stabilized, forming into one question and slamming it into her own consciousness.

"Ow," Zuzu complained and held her head again, "Please no more psychic abilities. I'm drained."

"How did you find out?" Haru pressed, ripping off his mask to reveal a very unhappy look.

"Yesterday, after you saved me. Though, I had my own suspicions before," Zuzu replied, settling down, seeing as this would last longer than their normal conversations.

"You can read minds?" Haru guessed, still visibly upset. Zuzu paused to note how much he was talking. But in a situation like this, she supposed it was appropriate.

"I can," she confirmed.

"So you invaded my privacy?" he frowned and folded his arms.

"Not on purpose!" she defended. "Last night was deja vu. You reminded me of the night we first met, and since I'm empathic too, I noticed you were very upset. So I pushed myself into your head a little bit to confirm my thoughts."

"Zuzu, that's invading my privacy," Haru informed angrily.

"I don't have the best control," Zuzu admitted with a look of defeat. "When I saw your name and mine in your thoughts I got sucked in."

"So you knew this entire time?"

"Yes."

Haru remained silent. Zuzu didn't have to be abilitied to know he was simmering inside. She turned up her gaze and huffed exasperatedly, "Why are you mad?"

Haru frowned deeply, but couldn't answer. "I don't know."

"Is there any reason me knowing about you is a bad thing? Or you, me?"

Haru fidgeted in his seat as he mulled it over. Zuzu closed her eyes as she felt a question rise in his head.

"No, I won't tell your secret," Zuzu cut him off before he could voice it. She hit him as an afterthought. "Who do you think I am?"

"Stop reading my mind," he snapped, rubbing his sore arm.

"Stop projecting your thoughts like a flashlight in the dark," Zuzu countered.

Haru's lips twitched in annoyance as he bit back a snarky reply. Zuzu also backed down after sensing him do the same. She took a deep breath and sighed, leaning against the roof. He was still projecting his thoughts like some kind of damn beacon. She rolled her eyes, and looked to the sky as she agreed with him. "Yeah, we do have a lot to learn."

Haru smiled to himself at the memory. At the time he was quite infuriated, but now he looked back at it fondly. The two of them only bonded more over their shared secret, and now, they were able to train with each other. It only made them stronger.

"Still have trouble staying out of heads?" he teased, smirking softly.

"Just yours," Zuzu frowned at the joke, biting her straw in annoyance as she narrowed her eyes. Haru smiled to himself as he started back on his work. Zuzu scowled at him, setting down her drink on the table. She reached for her bag, digging inside until she found her wallet.

"Do you want anything?"

Haru shook his head in response, never taking his eyes off his work. Zuzu nodded and left without another word, going to the front counter to purchase a pastry.

Haru jotted down answers quietly, trying to focus on his work again. He and Zuzu had a big project coming up and he was in charge of the display while she filled out the powerpoint. Of course, he didn't have to put so much effort in as he was, but he wanted to make sure they got an A. As he was planning out how to construct a decent presentation, a sudden rise in ghoulish energy stormed through the coffee shop.

Haru gagged, nearly choking as his body absorbed the energy suddenly. Adrenaline rushed through him with the steep incline of his powers. He shot out of his seat, looking around for the source wildly. He felt his blood run cold as he laid eyes on the creature. Monstrous and hairy, it looked every part a demon as it crouched beside the counter next to Zuzu.

Zuzu remained oblivious to the threat as she smiled sweetly to the waitress and took her serving of cake graciously. Haru opened his mouth to warn her, but fear blocked the words from coming out. As Zuzu turned to come back to their table, her head snapped up as she honed in on his fear.

He felt her presence in his mind instantly as she searched for a cause of his fear. With stunned horror, she found the pieces to make a picture. She froze, petrified to the spot as the demon leaned his bulbous body down towards her and whispered something in her ear.

Glassware shattered against the floor as Zuzu lost her grip and screamed in terror. Haru snapped to attention, projecting his powers around her like a shield. She had turned the cafe's entire attention on her, but a second later, a horrible boom sounded from outside, causing the whole building to shake in violent quakes. Haru started, ignoring the explosion and racing towards Zuzu as he wondered what the hell was going on.

* * *

 **A/N: So what do you guys think so far? I'd love if you left me a review for one of my longer chapters. I'm really curious what you all think of the world I'm setting up. Hopefully you like it.**

 **I'm still accepting OC's. Send them in!**

 **Hope to update in another week.**


	4. A Fearful and Ugly World

１月２１日 ９：５１

She knew when she moved to Tokyo she'd never have a quiet day to herself. Today, even in the wake of a natural disaster, that was no took a deep, slow breath as she relaxed her mental barriers, allowing a storm of thoughts from all around Tokyo to enter her mind. They quickly overpowered her, rushing into her head like a giant wave. It made her head ache, but she bared the storm. The news in the background became a blurred murmur as the thoughts surrounded her like a sea. She felt like a sailor lost at sea, staying afloat by only the grace of a thin, paper boat. Yet, she welcomed the chaos. The vortex of thoughts made it impossible for her to come up with her own, which she desperately wanted to avoid.

'Zu, you okay?'

Her mental ocean calmed immediately at his voice as Haru pressed himself into her mind softly as he checked on her. It immediately broke through her reverie, the voices in her head stabilizing to a barely audible whisper. Choosing to ignore his intrusion, she pushed her powers out around her, using them to locate her companion. She could feel his mind in the doorway of the kitchen, his mind abuzz with concern.

'I'm fine,' she answered back mentally, not breaking the blank stare she made against the wall in front of her. She curled closer to her knees, indicating her want to be left alone.

Haru moved around her, setting down some food and drink on the table before her. She ignored him the entire time, staring off into the distance with her own thoughts storming in her head.

Haru bit back a reply, saying nothing else. He knew her well enough to be an empath of her own in his own way. He knew she wanted space to herself right now. He quieted his thoughts and anxiety as he left her. Not voicing his thoughts didn't necessarily mean he wasn't communicating them. She was an empath, and one particularly familiar with his own emotions and thoughts. He was as easy as reading a picture book if he didn't keep his inner workings on a leash around her.

He left her in the living room, going to his room to change. An earthquake hit Tokyo hard yesterday. A lot of casualties happened in the outer cities, and many were already reported dead. There were still search and rescues being performed in the affected regions. Haru shed his jacket and top, throwing both on his neatly made bed. He turned to his closet, debating what to change into. His mask hung in the back of his closet, staring back at him with tempting blue eyes.

Haru stared back at them, wondering what was appropriate for the situation at hand. He debated each side, whether to rescue people as a superhero or as a normal citizen. Tentatively, he reached towards his mask, making his decision.

He gave it a glance before setting it down on his dresser and changing into his costume. He dug in the back of his dresser shelf, pulling out a solid black armored shirt. Haru turned to look at himself in his full length mirror as he changed into his pants. He gave himself a once-over. He was neither skinny, nor muscular, but he didn't mind that. His average body made it easier for him to blend in with the crowd. He wasn't the type to want to stick out in a crowd.

He reached in the back of his closet and pulled out an oversized jacket. Instantly, his arm disappeared in the loose sleeves as he donned the jacket and zipped it up. He gave himself one last, serious look before grabbing his mask and setting it over his face. A wide, wicked blue grin smiled back at him as he stared at himself solemnly through the mask. Haru closed his eyes and turned away from the mirror. He flexed his powers, testing his ability as he returned to the living room.

Zuzu looked up at him finally as he re-entered the room. She hadn't told him what happened to her when the demon whispered in her ear, but she's been traumatized ever since. It was like the demon had taken a part of her soul.

Her eyes fell on his mask as she looked at him with a conflicted countenance. Her gaze became downcast as she tucked her head and curled herself tighter. "Don't get into trouble."

Haru shook his head, harnessing his emotions to project an answer. By now, he had learned how to communicate with his partner by the fluctuation of his thoughts and emotions. Zuzu nodded and went back to staring at the wall with a beaten look.

'I'll be home soon,' Haru informed, letting her be by herself. He turned reluctantly and threw up his hood. Until she let him in, he couldn't do anything. He steeled himself and opened the front door, walking out unseen as he left for the leveled cities.

* * *

Haru was fortunate his powers were stronger today. The spirit world was as restless today as the living. With all the newly dead, and agitated spirits, Haru's powers had boosted. He breathed in deeply as he focused on helping others. Thanks to his ghostly acquaintances, he was able to locate a lot of people in need of help as the ghosts helped search for injured persons.

"The humans look for you," a spirit said, floating by his pant leg as it only half revealed itself through the solid ground. Haru nodded his thanks and went in the direction of the rescue personnel. When he first arrived on scene, they were quite cautious of him. Haru shrugged it off, thinking it appropriate given the sinister nature of his mask. They quickly realized he was an ally, however, the moment Haru began using his powers to move large debris off trapped people.

Using his powers to spring him forward, Haru jumped in front of the rescue staff. Still wary, he noted as he watched them stiffen in his presence. One of them, though, came forward either hiding his fear or not having any.

"Some workers are trapped below. We need some help with the fallen building," he reported. Haru nodded and extended his powers towards the site. The small debris was easy to be rid of, multiple pieces flying up together at once before being stashed to the side. The larger pieces, however, Haru moved one at a time, using all his concentration. Eventually he made a gap large enough for people to climb through. A small group of the rescue staff ventured in and helped people out, while Haru focused on keeping the building from crumpling further. He felt a thin layer of sweat begin to form on his brow as he struggled with the weight. He had used a lot of energy when he first arrived, racing against himself to save as many people as he could. He was getting tired now, but he refused to give up.

Finally, the workers cleared the building and Haaru released his focus. The building shuddered without his support and slowly began to fall into itself. Haru breathed deeply, trying to catch his breath as discreetly as possible.

"Thanks for your help," the man who called him over before said. "Hero, huh? Got a name?"

"Revenant," Haru answered passingly as he recovered his breath. It suited him, he thought. He may have not died, but his ghostly senses certainly made it seem so.

"We're in your debt," the man thanked genuinely, bowing.

Haru bowed back, "My pleasure."

"Hey boss!" Another man interrupted, waving them over. "B team called in saying they heard some kind of dog trapped under some steel beams. South side."

The other man breathed in deeply and turned to Haru again. "Think you can spare us another hand?"

Haru nodded in reply and followed the man elsewhere. The two ran through the ruined city. Many of the buildings had crumpled, some much more than others. A lot of people were hurt.

In the distance, several figures could be seen working together to move a steel beam. Haru faltered in his step as the dog howled from within. The cry startled him, the dog sounding more like a beast than a pet.

Haru and the man ran up to the scene just as the group of rescuers pulled the beam out of the way. One of them hopped into the mess, able to get through the debris now that the beam had moved.

Haru's eyes widened as he set eyes on the destruction within. Not only was the house completely destroyed, but a large-cat like beast glared from below the wreckage. Acting on instinct, Haru wrapped his powers around the man that had jumped in. He pulled the man from the building quickly, practically throwing him back to safety. Haru's stomach tightened with fear as he wondered the staff's inability to see the threat before them. The staff around him started in surprise, barely having a moment to question him before the wreckage around them exploded. The creature burst forth and escaped, sending debris everywhere. Haru leaped closer towards the others, throwing up a telekinetic shield to protect everyone from the rubble.

"What the hell was that?"

Haru dropped his mental shield as the men started around him, He ignored them and focused on the beast running from the blast site at top speed. Haru was after it in a second.

He used his powers to propel him forward and chased after the creature. His mind thought back to the workers who were unable to see the threat when it was in front of them. Haru bit his lip as he was reminded of yesterday's encounter with the demon. O one but him had seemed to notice the creature. He hoped the two events were unrelated as he sped after the beast.

He cursed inwardly as it started moving into residential territory, places that hadn't been hit so hard by the earthquake. People shouted in surprise as the creature rushed past them, appearing as a strong gust of wind to the normal eye. Haru flew past them in their surprise, doing his best to keep up with the creature.

'It's fast,' he thought to himself as he jumped into the air again. Haru caught up with it, darting across the streets a few yards away. He extended his left arm, pushing out with his powers as he tried pushing it off it's feet.

The creature hissed at the shove, but didn't budge.

"Stop!" Haru commanded, bringing down a tree in it's path with his powers. The beast ran directly towards the tree and jumped, clearing the obstacle in one bound before taking a sharp turn.

Haru cursed, too slow to follow it immediately. By the time, he came back on course, the creature had gained a few meters on him. It began running directly for a bridge as Haru projected his powers to try and grab it. He felt his powers begin to wind around the beast, but it jumped and ran off the bridge, slipping through his grip.

Haru lost sight of it for a second, just a step behind as he hurled himself after it. Haru's eyes widened as he jumped off the bridge. He saw nothing of the creature as he fell down, landing in a shallow river. He turned around, looking attentively for the beast.

'Impossible,' he thought as he scanned the river valley. It spanned long and clear, not even a bush around to hide in. Haru breathed heavy, turning again to scan the river. There was nowhere for it to escape, but it had disappeared completely.

* * *

"A hero's work is never done," Zuzu said, greeting Haru from the living room as she heard him come in. She knew he was tired. She could read the exhaustion off him as soon as he landed on the roof of his apartment. His mind was fatigued, but she sensed something in the back of his head bothering him. It rang out, clear as a bell to her, but she ignored it, allowing him his privacy.

Haru entered the living room, peeling off his mask as he did so. Zuzu turned to him expectantly, waiting for him to say something. His eyes studied her closely as he tried to evaluate her emotions. His eyes flicked to her side where the food he had given her lied half-eaten. He turned his gaze back to her steadily, 'You're feeling better?'

"No, I'm not," she answered aloud as Haru came to sit and rest on the couch. He plopped down next to her with a satisfied sigh as he arched his back and stretched.

Zuzu receded into herself again, curling up her legs to her chest, but she kept her eyes on him this time. "I think it knew about my powers. Or at least my fear."

'I should've stopped it,' Haru cursed, not meeting his gaze to her. He stared up at the ceiling, still laying back against the couch as he tightened his hand into a fist.

"It showed me something," Zuzu continued, ignoring Haru's personal pity party. He drew his lips in a line at the news and turned his focus back on her.

"It was like something alive. Not human though, and not an animal. More like, raw emotion," she started with a sick expression, feeling her stomach heave at the memory. "It was so dark. A void that drained everything good in this world to fill an empty hole in it's heart. And I think it enjoyed it. I couldn't tell if it drained happiness out of sadness or it actually enjoyed spreading anguish like a disease. I've never felt anything like it before."

'You're crying, Zu,' Haru said, choosing his usual passive responses to her revelation. He didn't want to let her know how disturbed he was by her discovery. He dug under the coffee table for a box of tissues as he thought back to his encounter with the beast today. For Zuzu, he thought it better not to tell her anything. She didn't need to worry about another monster coming after her. He pulled out the tissue box and started passing them to her when her expression caught him in a daze. She was in anguish.

"Haru," her voice cracked. "I think it was a warning."

* * *

January 21. 7:40 am.

"Senator Finch," Superman greeted as he met her in the hallway of the U.S. Capitol building, Wonder Woman trailing by his side. A woman in all white looked up at his call. She smiled upon seeing them, greeting them politely.

"Superman, Wonder Woman. Thank you for coming," she said, calling them into her office while Natalia Monroe stood by her side. She handed her some papers and a pen, asking her to sign quickly so they could proceed with introductions quickly. The two superheroes came in quietly, allowing her to finish.

"Good thing you came early. There's a few things I'd like to go over before the conference." Senator Finch informed as Natalia went behind her and set the files away. She took Ms. Finch's blazer off the back of her chair and brought it to her as she continued.

"The proposals?" Superman guessed as he and Wonder Woman narrowed their eyes. Neither were particularly fond of the new events going on.

"Yes, I think it's better you don't hear them for the first time when we're in court," Senator said, sliding on her blazer with Natalia's help.

"What are they?" Wonder Woman spoke up, interrupting Superman before he could say anything.

Finch sighed, "You're not going to like them."

"Then we come up with another," Wonder Woman compromised, though not exactly.

"Unfortunately, it not that easy," Finch smiled, sympathizing with her blind enthusiasm. "I can guarantee you the elected board will vote unanimously to put regulation on the Justice League."

Wonder Woman folded her arms. "What kind of regulations?"

Finch smiled and gestured for Natalia to come forward. "This is my personal assistant, Ms. Monroe. She's an Eye. She can see the future."

Natalia extended her hand in greeting. "I've foreseen many possibilities. Agreeing to subject yourselves to power limitations is the best course of action."

"What about the villains?"

"We'll discuss that," Senator Finch answered.

"With all due respect, Superman, I implore you to choose subjugation. There is no right answer here. No perfect future. I can only advise you to take the most peaceful choice," Natalia bowed her head slightly as if ashamed to be asking this of the Earth's heroes.

"Obviously, these hearings will take years to finish. We fully plan on addressing villainy and countermeasures, but now is only the beginning," Finch said. "Each proposal will be thoroughly reviewed and adjusted according to the times. But by the end of this meeting, I believe one thing will be certain."

"The board will elect that the Justice League's jurisdiction be limited to the United States," Natalia announced.

"Villains don't have borders," Wonder Woman argued, narrowing her eyes.

"Japan just had a major earthquake. We believe the cause is from a magical source," Superman revealed.

Finch frowned, thinking it over. "Then I suggest you resolve the matter soon. There isn't much time."

"Not all members of the League are from Earth. They can not be bound by such rules," Wonder Woman frowned.

"Yes, they can," Finch disagreed, her political side coming out. "Wonder Woman you are here on Earth as an American guest. That makes you a citizen under our jurisdiction. Think about it. An American-based super power running around the globe unsupervised and doing what they deem right? It sounds like the beginning of a radical group. Your acts can easily be misinterpreted as an act of war or terrorism."

"We use our powers for good, like we always have," Wonder Woman bit back, offended by her reasoning.

"Wonder Woman, if North Korea decides to nuke the United States, and you interfere, are you prepared to be seen as a weapon of the US military? These kind of things are bound to happen sooner or later. We're just preparing for it before international tensions are created."

Wonder Woman went quiet while Superman stood beside her solemnly, each analyzing the situation. Finch continued, "Natalia can see the future, but it doesn't take a superpower to see where super acts of heroism are taking this world. Superheroes were always meant to be regulated. Now, I'm not telling you you're doing your job wrong. I'm not telling you that I'm not grateful for your rescue of my niece during the Darkseid invasion. I want to help you because you're superheroes in a fearful and ugly world. Let me do what I can to repay you."

The room remained in heavy silence for what seemed like forever before Wonder Woman spoke up again. "What about the children at the Academy?"

"There's no need for them to get caught up in all the politics. We'll try and leave them out of it. For their sake."

* * *

January 21. 7:01 pm.

"Welcome to the League Academy. It is from my own great fascination and honor of meeting you brave students, that I am humbled to be here today," Monroe began her speech, smiling widely the whole time as she welcomed the new students. Everyone was gathered in the assembly hall, which served double as a cafeteria, judging by the feast laid out on each table for the students. The set up was just like high school. The seniors, aka the moody and established superheroes, had grouped together in the center table and were throwing scowls in any direction.

Meanwhile, everyone else fidgeted in their chairs or wore nervous expressions as they took in the new environment. There were but a few, however, who sat calmly in their seat, emanating either a hostile or reserved aura. Ms. Monroe continued, "To start off our first night together, a banquet has been put together. Now, I know we're all dying to dig in, but let us wait until after the welcome announcements have been made."

"To start off, my name is Natalia Monroe. I am wonderfully excited to be serving as your headmaster for the first school year. I have been appointed by Senator Finch, who is working together with the Justice League to build a peaceful future."

She was met with many frowns from the superheros table at her phrasing, but no one said anything in response.

"Like you students, I have abilities beyond normal biology. Forewarning you all, I am an empath. Right now, I feel many of your excitement," she smiled softly before turning her gaze to others in the room. "And I can feel much of your hesitance. But I assure you, this school will become of great experience in your futures. I'm also an Eye, what Ms. Finch calls a seer. I can therefore assure that your worries will be solved."

She smiled brightly despite some of the doubtful scowls she received throughout the room. Her smile waned as she sensed their disbelief. She smiled weakly again before shaking it off and moving on. "Next, we'll move on to the staff. First, the Justice League."

Both Black Canary and Red Tornado stood up at their cue and introduced themselves. Black Canary took over, "I won't sugar coat it for you all. Times are changing. For better or for worse, we don't know. But you kids have made the brave decision to become involved in shaping the course of the future. This is what a hero is. Whatever may come, you all have my respect. I have great expectations of you all, the future generation of superheroes. I'll take personal pleasure in training you all."

"Lovely speech, Ms. Canary," Mr. Herrera cut in as soon as she was done, standing up in his seat. Canary nodded to him, attempting to show some ounce of amenity between people she clearly didn't like. She sat back down quietly with Red Tornado as Herrera introduced himself. "I'm your acting guidance counselor. I'll be checking in on each of you often. Let's make sure we become good friends."

His introduction set the students off, a visible chill running the meeker ones. He sat back down as the other teachers and staff introduced themselves after him. Along with classes to focus on their abilities, they would be taking their normal school academics at the school. Everyone was assigned the same teacher for each class, seeing as the school population was quite small to start. Each teacher had volunteered for the job, and each of them had been privately screened by both Senator and members of the League. The ones here now were the cream of the crop. They stood in line for a final bow, thus ending the opening ceremony.

With introductions over, they were thus allowed to begin eating. Wally West reached over and pulled a turkey leg onto his plate, taking one big bite out of it. "At least the food here is good."

"That's the only thing," Robin quipped back as he and the rest started filling their plates. Wally looked back behind him, spying a few cute girls a few tables away.

"I wouldn't say that's the only thing," he smirked with dreamy eyes. He held a spoon to his face and grinned at his reflection, checking for anything in his teeth. He smoothed back his hair next and flashed a charming smile at himself. He set the spoon down and grinned, moving to get up and "introduce" himself. A hand stopped him, however, slamming down on his wrist before he could fully stand up.

Emma kept her grip on him tight as she calmly took a bite of her food. Wally sat back down with a stern expression, facing his body towards her. "What gives, Jordan?"

"Flirting the first night, Wally? Is that such a good idea?" Emma asked, still not giving him her attention as she continued eating.

"I was not going to flirt," Wally denied with a frown.

"That's believable. And by believable, I mean not," Robin joined in.

"Perhaps he has a point," Aqualad countered, "Introducing ourselves may not be such a bad idea."

"Right," Wally agreed, standing up again, "So I should introduce myself to those cute girls over there."

He ran off before any of them could stop him again. The girls were either very kind or very oblivious as they welcomed Wally, but were completely oblivious to his romantic attempts.

"He'll give us a horrible reputation by the end of the night," Emma paled, watching the interaction with a sickened look.

"At least he's making friends," Aqualad said, casting his gaze out for his own group to introduce himself to.

"We didn't become superheroes to make friends," Robin pointed out, pulling out one of his devices and fiddling around with it as they ate.

"You're right, but I agree with Wally. This place isn't all bad," Emma started, wiping her mouth and twisting the ring on her finger.

"Emma?" Robin asked with an unbelieving tone as the remaining two boys looked to her in curiosity.

She smiled mischievously to herself as she used her ring to project a mouse trap next to Wally's unsuspecting hand. He yelped out loud when he moved it and it clamped shut on his hand.

"For example," Emma chuckled darkly, "I can torment Wally on a daily basis now."

'Everyone, remain calm. I have a message for you from the Justice League.'

Emma choked back a gasp as a voice suddenly entered her mind. She turned in surprise to the boys, checking to see if she was the only one under attack. They too had gone tense with the intrusion, meaning she wasn't the only one accosted by this foreign entity. She grimaced and forced herself to give a relaxed posture. From beneath the table her hand twitched with anticipation as she planned on using her ring at any moment. Her partners did the same, each discreetly reaching towards their respective weapons as they scanned the room with suspicious eyes.

'My name is M'gann M'orzz. I'm Martian Manhunter's niece. I've connected a telepathic connection between the five of us. My uncle told me humans greatly dislike our telepathy, I apologize.' Megan spoke secretly. They turned their attention to her through their peripherals. She grinned and talked with her fellow classmate as she communicated with them, avoiding suspicion.

'Act normal,' she commanded. With a deep breath the other heroes settled for continuing their meals in silence to avoid alerting the staff something was wrong. Just as the League had predicted, many of the staff were working for people with hidden agendas for the Academy. To let them know something was wrong, could be a dire mistake.

'The League has a mission for us.'

'What's the mission?' Robin asked, his tone coming out annoyed despite the lack of vocals.

'The school is a cover up. The five of us are to act us students while performing League missions incognito.'

'Oh yeah,' Wally grinned, echoing the thoughts of the other heroes. They each relaxed at the news, becoming relieved. Even the most optimistic of them had become worried they were being cast aside. Now, it was just the opposite. They were being put back on the field, and better yet, the League needed them.

'What about the other students?' Emma asked skeptically.

'The League doesn't trust them yet. They can start to be included once we deem them allies,' Megan answered. 'Uncle John says we'll be working reconnaissance for now. The League also said they'll need us to work cases outside their legal jurisdiction. All eyes are on the League, which means we can work behind the scenes- as the earth saying goes.'

'So what's our first mission?' Emma asked, echoing Robin's earlier question.

'To explore a Project Cadmus.'

* * *

 **A/N: So this is my plan for the American storyline. School may be a thing, but I still plan on sending the team on missions. First up, Cadmus.**

 **No worries about the American characters, they'll be playing a part in the missions very soon.**

 **Japanese line will also be having a very interesting story plot to be revealed next chapter!**

 **Update: I'll be rewriting some of the earlier chapters. Nothing much is going to change except that this is taking place around a year or so after Darkseid and he will be the world's first big threat. You probably don't have to reread it, just know that if it comes up at a later time then know I've changed the background to this. I'm also still in midterms right now so I'll probably update next week Sunday. I'll try and fit in more time to write so I can update sooner though! I love all your comments by the way! Thank you guys so much!**


	5. Hidden Agendas

January 22. 2:55 pm.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

"Come on," Dorian begged, anxiously tapping his pen against the table as he stared at the classroom clock. He could summon a wave and turn water into his own personal weapon, but he was powerless against the concept of time.

"There's gotta be someone here who has power over time," Dorian groaned as he slumped against his table, his arms folding over his head in dismay. He peaked out between his arms, watching as the smallest hand of the clock made it's merry way around the numbers at the pace of the world's slowest snail.

When he imagined hero school, he thought training alongside Superman and putting bad guys in jail. Buttkick 101 and the History of Catchphrases. He didn't expect having to retake classes and do homework. It was only the first day, and of course, most of his teachers assigned work instead of letting them get away with studying the syllabus. It was as if nothing in his life had changed.

"Calm it, Summers," Frankie barked, her attention on the teacher. She wore a frown on her face as she leaned back in her chair. It was starting towards the end of class for everyone, making each and every one of them fidgety in their own right. Either from nerves or excitement, everyone was anticipating the next set of classes, hero studies.

Dorian unfolded himself, hiding behind the student seated in front of him as he ducked down and whispered to Frankie, "You still haven't told me what your powers are! Please tell me it's time control."

Frankie narrowed her eyes in response, saying nothing. She propped her knee up against the desk and tilted her chair back as she waited for the class to end. Foreign languages was the last class. The staff thought Spanish would be the best subject for the moment. Fortunately for Frankie, she was fluent. Thus, a completely pointless class.

"Four more minutes," Frankie told him, stretching one arm over the back of her chair. The motion turned her focus to another student. He was certainly the largest in the class, bigger than even the teacher despite his age. Super strength, she guessed his superpower. It made the most sense with the size of his robust muscles. She'd have to laugh if his power was something cute like growing flowers. The boy, older in age, was evenly tanned, his black hair slicked back. With a cold look, he turned to meet her stare.

"Entiendes?" She asked, observing his grey eyes.

He nodded with a soft grunt and turned away from her. He went back to staring at the teacher blankly, seemingly determined to focus despite knowing everything already.

Dorian groaned out loud again, turning Frankie's attention again. He hit his head against the table as he dramatically expressed his displeasure.

"Senor Summers, esta bien? I would hate for you to have to stay after class on our first day," Maestra Alicia called, a playful smile gracing her face as Dorian shot up in his seat and folded his hands on the desk.

"Yes, Mrs. Alicia," Dorian shaped up, sitting with his back straight. "Bien. Bueno."

The teacher nodded and went back to teaching just as another student whispered to him. "Spanish not your cup of tea?"

Dorian flushed in surprise as the girl seated next to him spoke up before Frankie could reprimand him. He turned to her, spying a small, doll-like girl with a pixie cut smirking at him. She sat similarly to Frankie, leaning back in her chair with her feet on the table.

"Um, yeah," Dorian stuttered before getting a grip on himself. "Never was the best at studying."

"Dorian, you just got in trouble for talking. Put a lid on it," Frankie scolded, genuinely trying to help him out.

"Oh, don't worry about that," the other girl waved her off and smiled confidently. "She won't see us."

"Uhhh," Dorian drawled, both he and Frankie giving the younger a questioning stare.

"Power over probability, loves," she smirked. "I calculated the algorithm of which the teacher wouldn't catch us, and increased it."

"Um, is that possible?" Dorian asked, inclining his head towards Frankie for an answer. Frankie chewed her lip in response, unsure of the possibility herself.

"I literally just told you anything is possible," the girl deadpanned, her smug facade dropping to that of an irate mom. She clenched her fist, recalling her cool as she sat back in her seat properly. "Nevermind, my name's Melanie. Nice to meet you."

She sat up in her seat abruptly, throwing her school bag over her shoulder just as the school bell rang. She stomped out of the classroom, leaving the other two a bit stunned by her departure. The two shared a look of surprise as they gathered their things quietly, unsure of what to make of the situation.

"Hola, mis compadres!" Megan exclaimed, flying over to them with an excited look. "Earth school is so amazing! It's better than what I saw on TV- I mean, totally retro!"

"Yeah, sure." Dorian paled, sick at the idea of school. "Retro."

Frankie smiled as the younger teen started out of the classroom tiredly. "What do you think of the school, Frankie?"

"It's not bad," she replied. She didn't find it particularly bad, nor particularly good. School was school, as it always is.

"Do you guys want to go shopping before next classes? I heard that's what Earth students do after school," Megan gushed as they left the classroom and started down the hall.

"We do, it's just that there's no mall around here," Dorian explained. The three moved further down the hallway and to the main lounge, where some students idled around by themselves.

"Oh," Megan said disappointedly.

"We should grab something to eat," Frankie suggested, changing the subject upon seeing Megan's downcast expression.

The martian instantly cheered up. She clasped her hands together, rising in the air by an inch by her excitement. "Can we try pizza? I hear it is a delicacy among Earth creatures here."

Frankie and Dorian's eyes widened by her enthusiasm, forgetting she wasn't from Earth.

"Sure!" Dorian beamed, realizing this would be her first time trying pizza. "Only if you let me film it! Imagine: Martian Girl Tries Pizza for the First Time! It'll be a hit!"

Megan giggled and agreed, "I'd prefer Miss Martian if you don't mind."

"Even better," Dorian exclaimed, grabbing Megan and rushing her to the cafeteria while Frankie followed fondly behind.

* * *

７月２３日 １０：１１

"Are you sure this is where you lost it?" Zuzu asked, hoping for a negative answer as she scanned the thick forest around them. To her displeasure, Haru nodded his confirmation. The two were placed on the outskirts of a small town based at the foot of an immeasurable mountain grid. Haru eventually came clean with his encounter of a second beast, causing Zuzu to urge them to track it down.

'Sense anything?' Haru asked mentally. They were at the bank of the river where Haru last saw the beast before it disappeared into thin air. He surveyed the watery bank once more, hoping to find a clue but was unsuccessful.

Zuzu closed her eyes, focusing on her powers. She spread her conscious awareness as far as she could. The town behind them rumbled like thunder, but the mountains ahead were as quiet as the dead. Zuzu opened her eyes. "No, it's static."

'How far?' Haru asked, turning his gaze to the rocky, tree-filled passes.

"The first mountain. It's as far as I could go," Zuzu replied. The mountain stretched high above them. It was winter so the cry of the cicadas had yet to arrive, but even without them, the mountain had a daunting aura around it. Zuzu couldn't help but feel hesitant to enter.

Haru started forward, making Zuzu frown as she reluctantly followed his lead. The two walked up the mountain in silence, mentally communicating to keep their guard up. The mountain was surprisingly quiet the hike up. There was not so much as the shuffle of leaves or the cry of a bird the whole way up.

"Something's wrong here," Zuzu said, her stomach swirling with anxiety. The whole mountain felt hostile. With the absence of life, the trees were able to grow thick and wide, long vines and roots tangling together like droves of massive snakes. Despite the relatively easy hike, the two were heaving with exhaustion. The very air around them seemed to poison them, making their eyes dry and their lungs burn.

'Can you make it further?' Haru asked, catching his breath as he rested atop a mossy root protruding from the ground. He unzipped his pack and pulled out a water bottle, drinking from it heavily.

Zuzu huffed, a hand on her neck as she coughed, "Yeah."

Haru passed the bottle to her to which she drank with the same greed. Haru took another deep breath as he scanned the forest again. They were deep in the mountain now. The trees around them stood tall like giants in the sky. He could see nothing between their gaps besides more trees. With a growing unease in his chest, Haru pushed them on.

'Can you sense anything yet?'

Zuzu shook her head. "No, we're the only ones here."

Haru frowned at the news. He looked back at Zuzu, finding her tiredly following a few steps behind him. Neither of them we're doing well.

"We need to get out of the forest," Haru announced as he waited for Zuzu to catch up.

"We can't give up," Zuzu replied, giving him a cold glare. She didn't want to give up yet, but as she leaned against the trunk of a tree, she knew she couldn't make it much farther.

Haru shook his head, 'That's not what I meant, Gray.'

Zuzu was right. There was nothing alive in this forest. Even since they entered, not even a ghost was in sight, but there was still something. A light whisper had accompanied the two the whole way since they first touched the forest floor. Haru ignored it at first. He reserved himself to watching Zuzu to gauge her reaction as they climbed the mountain. Within the first few minutes, however, it was clear only he could hear the voice.

Haru resigned himself to listening to it. It would fade in and out of earshot, only coming close when telling him where to go. Afterwards, it would whisper incoherent mumblings in the distance until he made a wrong turn and it would come back to guide him. Haru looked for the owner of the voice repeatedly, but it's voice was in the very trees and wind, as if it belonged to the forest itself.

It spoke of a stream nearby. Haru agreed it would be a better choice. He hoped the river would be barrier enough from the disorienting effects of the forest. He helped Zuzu up and guided them deeper in. Zuzu perked up after a while and she was able to hear the flow of water.

"A stream?" she guessed. The sound became louder and louder as they went, but she could not see it through the density of the trees.

Haru nodded, inwardly frowning as the disembodied voice became louder and more frenzied. He tried his best but couldn't understand the words it spoke. It was a very old language, he realized as he began to wonder what they were dealing with. He stepped out of the trees, his foot smashing into something wet as they made it to the stream.

"What is this?" Zuzu asked, her face going pale as she looked at the stream. Haru frowned deeper. The voice had gone quiet now.

The river ran a deep black, dying the soil around it an inky shade of night. Zuzu picked up her foot, repulsed by the polluted water. Her shoe picked up leaves and branches along the way, the soil like tar as she raised her leg. Haru picked his own foot out of the blackened stream and looked around as Zuzu started rubbing the sole of her shoe against a rock. The trees around them were stained with black veins, the water they absorbed from the stream imprinting upon them over time.

Haru pulled up his pant leg, finding his own skin dyed the color of black. He grimaced and moved out of the polluted area, joining up with Zuzu. Unspokenly, the two agreed to follow the stream uphill and find the source of the infection.

"You and I are prime horror movie candidates, Haru, with the decisions we're making," Zuzu joked as they trekked on. She felt slightly better now that they weren't wandering blindly around the foreboding maze of trees.

'More than you know,' Haru thought to himself as he wondered about the voice. They were clearly dealing with something bigger than themselves. Haru found himself especially worried over Zuzu as she seemed to have no idea of the entity living in the forest. It reminded him of the encounter with demon, and how she was helpless against it. He thought back to the cat-like beast. Again, he was the only one able to identify its presence. His powers were always based off ghostly energy. It allowed him to see and communicate with the dead, but perhaps, his powers extended to more than one plane.

'There's a house,' Zuzu entered his mind, pulling him from his thoughts. He looked up. Thick coats of moss had grown over the structure, making it almost invisible against the green background. The house must have been built long ago, for smaller trees had taken root in its roof, growing into the very structure of the house.

Haru breathed stiffly, a frown on his face as he pressed forward. He didn't sense anything ghostly from the house. Instead, he sensed something else, making him wary of coming any closer. He glanced back to Zuzu to measure her reaction. A small film of sweat had set against the girl's brow as she set her eyes on the house pensively. She didn't dare meet his eyes out of fear something would remove itself from the house if she took her eyes off it.

Sighing to himself, Haru turned back and readied a shield should they need it. They were close enough now to make out the tinier features of the abandoned building. A whole in the bottom of it's side was stained black from where the stream ran beneath it. The moss around the area grew in shades of black like the trees before, polluted by the stream. The house could almost be beautiful with how it was entwined with nature. Only that made it all the scarier.

Both stood at the foot of the house tentatively, staring up at the building fearfully. Neither wished to move any closer. A soft wind blew past just then, rising above the house and rustling the leaves of the trees as it went. Several leaves fell from their loose perches on the tree. They fluttered down above the roof, falling into a whole unseen by their place on the ground.

'When was the last time you felt a breeze?' Zuzu asked, her unsettled countenance unchanging. Indeed, it had been a while since the wind last blew. The forest was calling to them again.

Haru didn't respond as he pushed himself into the air with his powers. He landed gently atop the roof and peered down the hole in it's top. The light of the day betrayed nothing of the inside. All he could see was several roots growing down into the room like a twisted, overturned crown. Not looking back, he extended his powers to Zuzu and helped her up. The two peered into the darkness together, hesitating to enter the house.

'I'll go first,' Haru said, steeling himself before jumping in. He could see better now that he was below. He quickly scanned for any sign of life, but nothing lied within. He heard scuffling above him as Zuzu jumped down beside him a moment later.

'Anything?' She asked, her form tensing in defense of a potential attack.

'We're safe,' Haru informed, relaxing and now taking the time to give the room a hard look. The room was empty except for the dozens of scattered scrolls and papers thrown about the room. Haru bent down and picked up the paper nearest him. It was old, it's body stained a dull brown over time. There was an image painted there and Haru had to squint under the faint light to make it visible. It was a picture of a beautiful maiden in the old kimonos worn years ago by ancient civilizations. The lines of her body had been carefully applied to the paper, allowing her beauty to last through the test of time despite the ancient paint peeling about her.

'Haru!'

Haru spun around as Zuzu shouted for him. She had moved further into the house, a few steps away. He went to her, finding her frozen to her spot with a hard glare about her. He followed her eyes, spying her concentrated intently on a bound leather booklet. From it, a steady flow of black ink ran from it's pages, creating a stream that flowed out of the house. Haru started and took a small step back. They had found the source of the forest's infection.

"Something's very wrong with it," Zuzu informed him, growing pale and clammy the longer she stared at it.

'Can you sense anything?' Haru asked.

Zuzu paused. 'I don't think I want to.'

Taking a deep breath out, Haru moved forward and seized the book with his powers.

'Haru, don't!' Zuzu pleaded, but was too late. He unclipped it's binding and the book burst open. The stream of ink halted from it's pages as the voice returned to him tenfold. Haru grimaced and held his head as he fell to his knees. The pages of the book fluttered violently as a strong wind picked up from within the house and blew about them.

* * *

4:00 pm.

They were under attack.

Canary had them gather on the training field after the bells for next class rang. The next thing they knew, the ground was splitting and rising around them, separating each person from one another. They all ducked for cover, afraid of what would come next.

Holographic images projected around them and began shooting at them. Several cries went up as some were taken out of the game immediately.

They're testing us, Frankie realized as she ran for cover. She didn't have many enemies around her, fortunately. She ducked around a newly formed barrier and marked the location of her opponents. One from the left, another on the higher ground above her.

She moved deeper in to avoid sight from the hunter on the left. She turned to the wall and climbed, her skin sticking against the rock like a spider. The marksman above her wasn't expecting her. As soon as it took aim over the top, Frankie jumped it. Her hand hooked around its ankle while her other helped her to pull herself atop the barrier. She was quick as she hunched down to avoid a swing from her opponent. It missed and she vaulted up while it was off balance. Quickly disarming it with a twist of his arm, she kicked the weapon away and let go of the hologram, causing it to fall to the bottom. The person split apart into shattered cubes as it impacted with the ground. A shot flew by her as the hologram below started shooting at her.

Frankie fell back, deciding to avoid that one and run. Her attention was drawn by a yelp of surprise. Someone else had been taken out. Her eyes turned to a large screen at the end of the training area. It displayed a list of all the students, some of them with their screens faded in color. A timer and score adorned their pictures.

Frankie realized the screen was tallying their scores on the training exercise. Her eyes moved to her own name. Her timer was still ticking along and she had a score of '1' beside it. She was still in the game.

She quickly reviewed who else was alive. Dorian had a current score of three, while Miss Martian had just approached six. She scanned the rest. No one else she recognized was on the board except for the brooding, bulking student from Spanish class. His score was seventeen.

She shivered in surprise as she ran to find and meet up with one of her friends. She wasn't experienced in fighting. If push came to shove, she'd need someone to help her out or she wouldn't make it to the end. Another timer showed at the top of the screen.

Three minutes left.

"Frankie!" A voice called suddenly. Frankie nearly jumped out of her skin as she stopped and turned around to find the source of the noise. She had been on high alert, yet someone had snuck past her defenses.

"Over here," Megan announced, materializing from thin air. Frankie jumped back again in surprise.

"Duck!" Megan shouted, her warm smile dropping as two enemies approached Frankie from behind. The other girl reacted quickly and ran low while Megan used her telekinesis to knock the two enemies off the high ground.

"No time to talk, we gotta move," Megan announced, taking Frankie's hand and running down the path.

"We need to find Dorian," Frankie said as Megan struck down another enemy. She cursed, reminding herself to focus. Gritting her teeth, Frankie prepared another attack while Megan analyzed the large screen overhead.

"There are points telling where we are," she informed and pointed. "But I can't tell which dot is who."

"He's this way," Frankie declared, taking the lead and pulling Miss Martian towards the other side of the training grounds. Several more enemies appeared in front of them, and this time Frankie wasn't hesitant to fight. She charged first, jumping high and toppling one to the ground. She landed on top of the hologram with her knee on it's neck. The projection dissipated and Frankie moved on to her next enemy while Megan took on several of her own.

Frankie recovered quickly and twisted around as one came at her, elbowing him in the back in the process. She let that one fly as she moved on to another enemy, lifting this one high in the air and throwing it against another.

She let out an animalistic roar as the remaining four raised their weapons on her. Her eyes flashed with anger as she quickly got out of the way with shocking speed. She went behind them before they had time to process her movements. She jumped up and kicked one of them with two of her feet before flipping back on the ground. The other three shot at her, managing to fire off a few before Frankie took out two. She spun around to avoid direct fire, kicking one down as she did so. Keeping the same momentum, she spun again, throwing another off the edge. She shouted at the last as she picked it up and flung it into the pits.

Megan landed beside her as she finished, having just wrapped up her own fight. "Is it just me? Or is this getting harder?"

Just as she said so, another hologram materialized in front of them. Their eyes widened as the projection was considerably larger and wielding a gigantic axe.

"It's not you," Frankie grunted as she and Megan ran at the beast. Megan flew up to eye level, distracting it while Frankie went for it's legs. She threw herself against it, grunting with the force it took to overpower him. She screamed as she called for her powers. Slowly, she managed to lift the hulking projection off it's feet and slam it on it's back. Megan took over the rest, using her own powers to put down their opponent.

Frankie swayed, her head becoming light from her exertion. She was pushing herself far more than she was used to. Megan came down and helped her steady herself, "Come on, we have to move."

Frankie nodded, trying to shake off the feeling when the ground rumbled beneath them. The arena was morphing again. Megan and Frankie gasped as they were broken apart. Large pillars rose up from the ground, completely changing the geography and layout of the grounds. Frankie again found herself alone and surrounded by tiny, holographic spheres. Curiously, she put her hand to one. It split open and gave birth to an enemy who charged at her immediately. Her eyes widened as she barely managed to dodge it's attack. She quickly overtook her opponent but set off several more traps in the process.

She groaned in annoyance, doing her best to fend them off, but everywhere she went she set off another trap. It wasn't long before she became overwhelmed. A shot from behind took her down. The holograms shut down as Frankie was eliminated and the arena lit up around her, showing her the way out.

She sighed in defeat and started walking, observing the screen as she went. Dorian had also been taken down at some point in time. In fact, most of the class had been ejected, save for a handful.

As Frankie moped and traveled to the resting area, she was joined by Dorian who was also on his way out.

"Frankie!"

"Oh, hey," she waved.

"Man, I was doing really well on my own! And then that guy came in and ruined everything," he immediately began complaining as he walked beside her. His hair had become damp, a result from his power no doubt.

Frankie sighed and indulged him, casting aside her own disappointments for now. "What guy?"

"The biggest of us all! I was being really careful not to set off any traps and the next thing I know, he jumps in and tears up dozens of them in the process! He's crazy I tell you!" Dorian exclaimed.

Frankie turned back to the screen, recalling said classmate from before. His number was now approaching the nineties and growing steadily.

"Carlos Lopez," she read his name. He was frightening. Even Miss Martian, who was in the run for second, had only just reached the thirties. His power was unimaginable.

A bell rung throughout the entire stadium just then, signaling the end of the simulation. The ground returned to normal and they were able to see Miss Martian off in the distance along with some of their other classmates. Carlos, who was closer by than they expected was still huffing from the fight. He turned to them, scaring them half to death. His normally intimidating grey eyes were on the verge of being dyed a striking red while his skin similarly scaled to a redder shade.

Taking a deep breath he stabilized and returned to his normal appearance. He glared at them and stalked off to the observation center where everyone else who had lost had gathered.

"Let's go," Frankie said, nudging Dorian as they moved to follow their senior classmate. Megan joined them eventually as they made it to the observation deck with the rest of their classmates. It seemed everyone in the school had gathered there to watch, staff included. Even the other heroes, who had been exempted from school classes had gathered there to watch the newbies show their stuff.

"Congratulations, all of you," Black Canary began. "I saw great performances out there."

Everyone remained quiet, eager to hear her analysis of their training. "Each of you performed with individual skill, and got a taste of what it's like to really battle out in the real world. But, your test was only at a beginner's level. The first two minutes were level one."

A small murmur went up as some students talked amongst themselves. There were some there that had been taken out before the two minute mark.

Black Canary continued, "Level two was initiated for two more minutes. Level three lasted for the last minute."

Frankie and Dorian sighed in relief. They had done pretty well to last to the last level.

"For those of you who feel you didn't perform well, or the best you could've, that's what this training is for. You've come to the right place. By the time I'm done with you all, level five should not be a problem."

"Alright," Dorian grinned, eager to earn more power. He turned to Frankie, who held an equally determined expression on her face.

"Training begins now."

* * *

２０：２０

He messed up. That much he knew. Haru rested his head against the back window of the train, fighting to stay awake as he waited for their last stop home. Zuzu leaned against him from the next seat over, still passed out from before. She lost consciousness almost immediately after he opened the book. He could only imagine the reasons why.

After the book had been unleashed, Haru had picked up Zuzu and ran with all his might away from the forest. That had been several hours ago. The two of them were almost at his place now. Zuzu needed rest, and to be as far away from that accursed book as possible. He, on the other hand, was going back. That book was the only key he had in figuring out how to stop the monsters running loose around Tokyo.

The train arrived at their stop finally, and Haru huffed with effort to carry Zuzu out of the train. He jumped, pushing her higher and used his telekinesis to give him a hand with her weight. He sighed in relief at the considerable lightness she now held and trekked them up the stairs. He lived close to the station, a fact he was now overjoyed with.

In the dark hallways of his apartment, Haru used his powers freely. He telekinetically unlocked the tumblers in his front door and opened it. He walked in, not bothering to remove anything as he went straight to the bedroom. He laid Zuzu on his bed and helped her take her bag and shoes off. He sat beside her, staring at the ceiling with tired eyes. He peeled off his own shirt and shoes, tossing the dirty items on the floor. His house could be cleaned at a later time. He removed himself from the bed and entered the bathroom for a quick shower.

Haru sighed in pleasure as the warm water ran over him. He held his gaze down, staring at his blacked ankle. It was still dyed with the ink from the book. He took his bar of soap and leaned over to scrub it clean. By the time he had managed to get it to fade only a few shades lighter, he had rubbed his skin raw. Haru sighed and gave up on the effort. He rinsed off the soap from his body and climbed out. Quickly drying off and wrapping a towel around his waist, Haru went back to the bedroom. He passed a glance on Zuzu, finding her still unconscious. He'd have to apologize to her later for not listening.

He went to his closet and pulled out his costume. When he went back this time, it would be as Revenant.

* * *

The forest felt familiar this time. Haru was able to move around with ease as he followed the path taken before. The great maze was no longer intimidating, but that did nothing to ease his fears. He knew what lied further into the mountain.

The voice was with him again, but this time he was the one being ignored. Haru could still not identify the language it spoke, and it unnerved him all the same. He tried to focus. Every now and then he could pick up a word or two. He listened intently.

"Halt!" The voice didn't come from the book. Haru turned towards the voice. A girl around the same height as him stood only a few feet away. She had a hood over her face, obscuring her identity. Haru turned his attention to her exposed midriff. He could make out her darker complexion from there and realized she was foreign. He was also able to make out the extreme toneness of her muscles, making him nervous. Haru felt his pulse beat quicker as he froze to his spot. No one was supposed to be out here. He hadn't planned on being caught.

"Stay where you are," she ordered in a strict voice, coming forward. Haru obeyed, unable to move even if he wanted to.

"Try anything and I'll pummel you," she announced as she moved in front of him. Her features were still shadowed by the hood, but Haru could tell she was glaring at him from underneath.

He gulped and nodded, anxiety taking over and preventing him from thinking clearly. He shivered and held still as she quickly patted him down to check for weapons. She stopped at his chest, feeling the armored shirt. Her eyes narrowed, "Who are you and what are you doing out here?"

She looked up at his mask and moved to take it off. Haru gasped and jumped away, finally finding the means to move. The girl inhaled in surprise as Haru glided a safe distance away from her.

"You're a super," she nearly growled out.

"I'm- I'm not an enemy," Haru sputtered out, trying to calm his beating heart. This was just like when Zuzu first encountered him. All his fears from before were sprouting back up like wildfire. He didn't know what to do.

"Who was the girl you were carrying?" the girl demanded, settling into a fighting stance. Haru flushed at the sight, feeling his palms become sweaty as the situation escalated. He didn't want a fight with a civilian.

"My partner," Haru answered fearfully, realizing she had been tailing him from when he got home. He supposed it made sense. A guy carrying around a passed out woman should cause anyone to worry.

"Why are you here?"

Haru shook his head, realizing he was wasting time answering questions. He turned to run, but was held down by an invisible force. Haru gasped as the pressure became heavier. He was soon brought to one knee as his legs buckled under the weight of his own body. The pressure increased even more until Haru found himself pinned to the floor. He stared at the girl in shock as she came closer, unaffected by the pressure. "Don't move."

She yelped in surprise as Haru's powers flew out of him and knocked the girl aside. She flew back and knocked against a tree. Immediately, the pressure atop Haru dissipated. He bolted to his feet and ran a safe distance away before turning back to the girl.

She rubbed her head as she picked herself off the forest floor. Her hood had fallen off to reveal a very pissed teenager of Indian descent. One long braid fell over her shoulder as she cracked her neck and glared at him. She ran at him, picking up speed on the way until she was right on top of him before he could realize.

Haru's eyes widened as he ducked from a punch made his way. He again glided for cover, turning just in time to see the girl punch the forest ground. The poor root that had took his place shattered to bits as a gust of wind rose up from her impact. Haru wanted to cry as he resolved himself to avoid being hit at all costs, lest he wanted to die very painfully.

The girl whipped her head around at him. Her eyes narrowed as she bent closer to the ground and ripped another sizeable root from the ground. Haru paled as she raised it above her head and threw it at him with surprising ease. He shouted in alarm and threw himself to safety. Instinct taking over, Haru wrapped his powers around the projectile and threw it back at her. She steadied her stance as it came at her, not bothering to run away from the projectile. She raised her arm back and swung it forward, punching through the log.

Haru felt a shudder pass over him as he desperately wanted to run away. He tried again, only to be pursued by the same pressure from before. Haru grunted against it as it moved to pin him against a tree, He turned to the girl, ensnaring her within his own prison as she struggled against his telekinetic bonds. He brought her up to his eye level against the tree as she kicked her legs in the air in attempt to free herself. Haru didn't bother trying to escape as he held her in front of him. They were even. He glared at her under the mask and waited until she gave up her fight.

She scrunched up her nose at him, glaring as she realized her fight was futile. Dissatisfied with the results, she proceeded to take a deep breath through her nose and hawked a loogie at his face. Haru closed his eyes in disgust as the girl decided she was satisfied with small win and allowed herself to be suspended in the air with him.

"Do anything to me, and I crush you."

Haru nodded and kept silent. He felt at least a bit calmer now that the fight was at a stand still. The girl tilted her head to the side as she waited for Haru to say something. He didn't.

"So what? We just float here and have a staring contest? Who are you?" She sounded annoyed,

Haru frowned and answered reluctantly. "I'm a hero."

"If you're a hero then I'm a fluffy dinosaur," She replied. "What's your name?"

"Revenant."

"Petra," she greeted, dipping her head in a mock bow. "So why is a hero out here in these woods. What happened with your partner?"

Haru paused. He wasn't exactly sure himself how to explain it. Even if he could, he wasn't entirely sure his new acquaintance would believe him.

"Super bad, super villain taking shelter in the middle of nowhere?" Petra spoke up with a teasing smile. Haru sighed in relief at being relieved of his explanation. He nodded back at her, causing her playful expression to drop.

"You're kidding me," she dead-panned.

Haru shook his head.

"Do you always talk so little? How do you expect me to trust you?" Petra barked accusingly. Haru bit his lip, again unsure of how to reply. There was no way for him to prove himself to her.

"Take off your mask," she ordered, eyes narrowing. Haru recoiled, unwilling to submit to her command. She narrowed her eyes further, daring him to disobey. Haru shuddered under her gaze. She had to have something up her sleeve or else she could not achieve such an intimidating look. Haru gulped and removed his mask, revealing half of his face as he brushed the mask aside with his powers.

Petra relaxed, finally. Haru felt the pressure against him lighten and he put his mask back on.

"We let each other go at the same time," Petra declared, receiving another nod in return.

"One, two, three," she counted. She was immediately released and fell to the ground swiftly. She caught herself against the uneven ground nimbly. She turned her head back up, where Haru was still caught under her hold.

"Just making sure," she apologized lamely and let him go. Haru fell to the ground, recovering much less gracefully than the former. Haru stood up and shook out his stiff limbs, glad to be free of the pressure that restrained them. He looked to the girl, finding her staring at him with her arms crossed over her chest.

"So I'll trust you, for now. What now?"

Haru froze, thinking to himself. She may trust him now, but he still didn't know what to make of her. Whether he could trust her or not, he wasn't sure if she'd be keen on accompanying him to read a demonic book. After what happened with Zuzu, he wasn't sure he even wanted to bring another person along anymore.

He turned away from her and started walking back into the forest. The voice had not left him, and spoke in tongues all throughout their fight, not stopping even now.

"Hey, wait!" Petra called after him and ran to catch up. "Where are you going?"

Haru stilled, the words halting in his throat.

Petra went cross at his lack of explanation. She crossed her arms again, "Fine. I'll just follow you to find out."

Haru hesitated, but nodded his permission. He feared if he tried to stop her, another fight between them would break out, so he let her do as she wished. He went ahead, not caring if she was behind him or not.

Petra was stronger than Zuzu. She kept up pace with ease and walked beside him. She barely broke a sweat the whole way, the forest's poison having a near minimal effect on her. Truthfully, Haru felt it was him trying to keep up with her despite his lead.

Once they made it to the stream, her pace changed. She resigned to follow him quietly as she began to believe his claims of a villain in the forest. Haru didn't mind, already knowing what laid in store for them.

They made it to the house and Haru leapt up to the rooftop. He didn't help his new partner, deciding to see what she was capable of on her own. She jumped high, hooking her hand on the side of the roof. She climbed up a second later, too easily for Haru's taste. He nodded towards the hole, indicating their next direction. Once again, he went down first. Petra came after him, landing by his side as she surveyed the surroundings.

Haru ignored everything else this time as he quickly located the book and went to it. Unlike before, he was completely ignored by the entity within its pages. The book laid open on the floor, quietly reciting its verses to itself as it ignored their presence.

"That's it?" Petra asked, coming by his side as she found him hovering over the book.

Haru nodded and peered at the pages. It was written in ancient Japanese. He could barely read the connecting scribbles aside from a few characters that stood out. He frowned and again reached out to the book with his powers. He held his arm out to Petra and pushed her back as he prepared for anything.

The pages agitated at his touch, but thankfully did nothing else. Haru closed the book and bound it tightly. He pulled down his backpack and fished out a plastic bag. Using his powers, he carefully set the book inside and rebound it from within the plastic bag. Carefully taking every precaution, he placed the book gently back in his bag and secured it tightly to his back.

"That was your big bad villain?" Petra asked, giving him a skeptical look. Haru nodded and clenched his fists. He wasn't particularly comfortable with having a possessed book lying against his back, and wanted to get it away from him as soon as possible.

Petra opened her mouth to confront him once more when a deep, low growl interrupted her. She shut her mouth quickly and turned to the far side of the house where the growl came from. It growled again, coming out muffled. Whatever it was, it wasn't inside. Yet.

She turned to Haru for an answer, but he was focused on the roof. It was their only way out, and he had a sneaking feeling he was about to encounter an old enemy. Petra ran past him just then and jumped out on her own, before either could make a plan. Haru's eyes bulged out of their sockets as he watched her go. He heard a savage growl rip through the air and raced after her. He jumped onto the roof smoothly and looked down. The yellow cat-like beast from before lay just below him, wrestling with Petra as they rolled atop the knotted roots. Haru didn't have time to hesitate as he ran into the fray to help Petra.

"Revenant! Tell me what I'm fighting here!" Petra shouted in an almost panicked voice. She punched the creature blindly, managing to do enough damage to keep it from retaliating immediately.

Haru grit his teeth and pulled her off the beast and to safety as he took the front line against the beast. It rolled back on it's feet and shook off Petra's attack. It snarled angrily and turned to him.

Haru roared back, crushing two trees with his powers and sending them flying at the beast. It swatted at one, breaking it in half, but was hit on the side by the other. Growling, it leapt at him teeth first.

Haru held up his hands and summoned a shield. The creature knocked against it and fell against the ground, only to jump up again and attack his shield. Haru grunted with the effort to keep his shield up against its strength when Petra flew back in and punched at it. Again, she succeeded, but only managed to hit it's back leg.

"I'm blind here, hero," she shouted, falling into a defensive position she lost track of the creature. She looked around for a sign, waiting for the beast to betray its location before it got to her.

Haru turned from her to the beast. For now, it kept it's distance from her, tentative of receiving another brutal punch. Thinking on his toes, Haru encased the fallen leaves on the ground and summoned them into the air. He weaved them through the air with great precision, using them to outline the beast and it's movements.

Petra narrowed her eyes as she recognized it and ran in head first against. The beast roared and met her head on. Haru felt sweat trickle down his face. If at any moment he was too slow in marking it's movements, it could mean Petra's life.

Concentrating, he skillfully outlined the beast as Petra dodged another swat from its razor-like claws. She flipped around it and threw another hard punch at it's side. The beast howled as her arm pierced through it's skin with blunt force. Haru gasped, horrified by the power she could obtain.

Petra continued her affront however, oblivious to the damage she was causing. She climbed over the beast and elbowed it over it's spine. It broke with a sickening crack as she slid down it's side and kicked its front legs out from under itself. The beast fell with a heavy thud, yowling in pain. Petra ignored it and hurried to end her fight. She ran around it and to its head. She jumped high and brought her fist down.

Haru lost his hold over his outline as again Petra broke through the creature's skin. The leaves fell around her as the creature slumped with a broken skull. Haru looked on in stunned awe as Petra climbed off and walked towards him.

"I believe the fight is won," she guessed, looking to him for confirmation. Haru cast his gaze down and stared at the yellow blood staining Petra's shirt. He looked to her with a questioning gaze, but she didn't seem to notice. Not his shock, nor the blood.

Haru nodded, biting back the urge to tell her what she had done. If she knew, she wasn't showing any kind of remorse. Maybe she enjoyed it.

He nodded his head and moved to go back into town when the creature stirred behind him with a small mewl. Haru turned around in surprise. The creature moved slightly, attempting to get up as the hole in it's head began to heal and refill.

He grabbed Petra and started running down the mountain.

"What?" She shouted in annoyance as she shook her hand free from him.

"It won't die," Haru yelled back, racing through the trees. He hoped to make it off the mountain before the beast could come after them again.

"Who said anything about killing it?" Petra argued, running down beside him. She grabbed him this time and stopped. Haru attempted to keep running, nearly tripping over himself when Petra stood firm, not budging an inch against him. Haru flinched as the action caused him to overstretch his arm. He receded and massaged his arm as Petra continued, "Let's finish this thing."

Haru flushed with alarm as she turned and cracked her knuckles, readying herself for round two. Haru released a growl of his own as he toppled over several more trees, effectively blocking off the path between them and the beast.

"Hey!"

Haru ignored her and grabbed her again, this time with his powers. Petra struggled against him again, thrashing against his bonds uselessly. "Wait, super-wannabe!"

The beast howled in the distance, causing Haru to run even faster. His gym teacher would be proud with the speed he was making. He wasn't much of an athlete back at school but make him run for his life and he might cut out to be a track star.

The two burst from the forest wall and started running for the river bank. Haru hurled them across and tumbled on the other side, completely missing his landing. He huffed as he rested against the ground. He looked to the forest for the beast, but again it disappeared. They were safe.

Haru breathed in deeply, pathetically winded from their escape. A rock flew at his head as he turned, meeting the eyes of a very mad Petra. "I could've taken it."

Haru stared at her in disbelief as he continued to catch his breath. This girl was crazy.

* * *

7:14 pm.

"So," Emma began as the team settled into Megan's Martian craft. "What do we think of the new kids?"

"Nothing much," Wally smirked, relaxing in his seat while Megan started up the ship. They were below the island. The Justice League had prepared a small, but secret hide out just beneath with everything they'd need for their covert missions.

"They did very well for their first time," Kaldur defended them as Megan announced their launch. They slid from the launch pad and into the ocean water, using it as cover to get off the island unnoticed.

"Yeah, on level three," Robin threw in sarcastically.

"The school's a joke," Wally spoke up. "You can't just take classes and major in being a hero."

"Give them some credit, Wally." Megan spoke tentatively. Unlike the rest, she had actually made friends amongst the new kids. She knew they were stronger than they seemed.

"Well, I didn't mean you, gorgeous," Wally amended his previous statement and gave her an award-winning smile.

"Yeah, you passed with flying colors," Robin threw in. "Like any of us would have if we took the same test. You belong here with us."

"But I don't have fighting experience, only what my Uncle John taught me," she pointed out.

"You'll learn on the way," Emma soothed. "Don't worry, you're part of the team."

Megan frowned deeply. They weren't getting it. She wasn't any different from the other students, but for some reason she was treated better than the rest. It left a sick feeling in her stomach as she was reminded of the separation of class treatment between the green and white martians back home.

She decided to stay quiet for now and hid her displeasure. A quarrel now could only damage the mission ahead. She'd settle her qualms with her teammates another time.

"Enough," Kaldur said, sensing the tension between them. "Focus on our mission."

The team fell quiet the rest of the ride, silently reading through the report of Cadmus given to them by Batman. They just finished their briefing when Megan landed them in an alley near the lab.

"Time to disembark," she announced, powering down her ship. She stood, her clothes turning black as she donned her stealth gear.

The rest followed suit and switched to the blackened version of their costumes. They boarded off the ship and took refuge in the alley. Robin pulled out a drone, and after inputting a few codes on a device on his arm, sent it off to survey the lab.

The drone's surveillance displayed in the air, broadcasted by the same device Robin had been playing with earlier. "Looks like a normal lab."

"How do we get in?" Green Lantern asked, looking over the building for a way in. They were on a covert mission. They couldn't risk letting anyone find out about their surveillance, especially with the media watching their every move.

"There's a backdoor in the parking lot. We could-," Robin was cut off as an explosion came from the building and it was engulfed in flames.

"Woah, it just exploded!" Robin exclaimed, thrown off by the blast.

"Not a bad cover," GL commented as Aqualad sprung into action.

"Miss Martian, disguise yourself and evacuate lab personnel. The rest of us will wait until it's safe to sneak in." he said, dismissing Miss Martian ahead of the rest.

"Too late," Wally crossed his arms and scowled. "Boy Wonder already went ahead."

Aqualad turned back to the blast, spying their youngest member just as he snuck around to the back of the building. Aqualad sighed in frustration, "Everyone take extra precautions. Our presence can not be known."

The two remaining members of the team nodded in agreement and geared up to go. KF dashed ahead as usual, running in after Robin while GL escorted Aqualad into the blaze. Sensing it was clear, the two got to work putting out the worst of the fires. Already, they could hear the sirens of the fire department crew in the distance. They didn't have long to spare. Making sure the building was stable enough to burn until the firemen arrived, they moved to laboratory.

The three remaining members were already there, filing through documents and hacking into computers for information.

"Thanks for your assistance," Aqualad narrowed his eyes from the entrance.

"You had it covered," Robin defended, never taking his focus off the computer screen.

Aqualad frowned and turned to Green Lantern. He gestured for them to move on and investigate another room. She nodded and flew out with him. They split in the hallway, her taking the right side. She was coasting down the halls in search of a clue when an inhuman shadow crossed her path. She narrowed her eyes and hurried to catch up with it, chasing whatever the creature was down another corridor. She turned the corner, making out the barest of its silhouette before they were enclosed within the elevator doors.

She threw herself forward in an attempt to apprehend him but was too late. She shouted for the others as she pried at the steel doors with her powers.

"Stop that! Do you want to set off an alarm?" Robin scolded as he came running around the corner with everyone else.

"You saw someone?" Aqualad asked as GL receded to let Robin hack his way into the system to allow them entry.

"But I evacuated everyone," Miss Martian opposed with a fretful look.

"No," GL cut her off, "It wasn't human."

"So what are we dealing with here?" Kid asked as Robin got the doors to open. The five of them peered down only to find an endless abyss dug deep into the Earth.

Robin narrowed his eyes, "Obviously something more than what we were expecting."

He pulled out his grapple gun and shot it into the ceiling of the elevator shaft. He jumped down fearlessly, leaving everyone else behind.

"Prepare for the worst," Aqualad warned before jumping onto Robin's line and hitching a ride. GL formed a platform beneath her and KF and dived down alongside Miss M.

They fell swiftly, the numbers of the floors flashing by as they went. They had just surpassed Robin and Aqualad when the Boy Wonder ran out of rope. Aqualad skidded himself to a stop as they hung in the air. Robin swung himself to the edge of the shaft, landing safely despite the small ledge. Aqualad followed him and checked the floor. They were at sublevel thirty-six.

He turned to Robin and they shared a look. "Good a place as any."

Green Lantern expanded her platform as they decided on a route, allowing everyone to stand comfortably as Robin again hacked his way into the system. The doors opened to reveal a bland looking hallway, heavily set with steel pillars to support the weight of the building.

"We split up," Aqualad suggested after he surveyed the area. He stretched his hand out and laid it on Robin's shoulder, sensing the boy already moving to run ahead. "Wally and I will take this floor. You go with the girls to investigate another floor."

"Who made you leader?" Robin quipped, crossing his arms like a child.

Steeling himself, Aqualad refused to entertain the boy with a reaction. Calmly, but forcefully, he explained his reasoning. "The other group will need someone to hack into the doors again."

Robin scowled and reluctantly agreed with the idea. He returned to GL's construct, wrapping his cape around him quite like his mentor does as he simmered.

"Alright," Kid grinned, snapping his goggles to his head. He turned back to the other three with a bright smile, "Don't get too lonely without me ladies."

GL visibly sickened at the line and made a heaving motion, "I literally just gagged a little in my mouth just now."

Kid's smile dropped as he scowled back at her. Aqualad bid them safe journey as Robin typed on his devices and shut the door between them. Shaking off her feeling of disgust, GL descended them further into the base as Robin continued to type on his condensed computer program. "System says there's fifty-two sublevels in this building. Let's go to the bottom and check it out."

The other two nodded their consent as they soon came upon the level. They were blocked by the elevator at first, and thus, settled for sublevel fifty. As soon as Robin opened the doors, the words they were going to say halted in their throats. Unlike the other level, this room was covered in a substance that reverberated around the room like iridescent muscle.

Robin narrowed his eyes and exited the elevator. "Meet back here in twenty minutes."

"Wait, aren't we supposed to go in a group?" Miss Martian exclaimed, entering the floor with subtle hesitance.

She received only silence as her answer as Robin ignored her and disappeared into the hallway. Green Lantern came up beside her and shook her head, "Ignore him. Aqualad sent us together knowing Robin would go off on his own."

"This place gives me the creeps," Miss M commented and shivered as she looked about the room, complying with GL's claim.

Using her powers, Lantern quickly and neatly collected a sample from the wall and pocketed it in her suit before walking ahead. "Stay focused. I definitely saw something monstrous come down here."

Megan nodded and followed her deeper into the dim corridors of Cadmus.

* * *

"Your report."

Several computers lit the dark room, their screens glowing a soft blue in the room. Though their figures were well shaped, their identities were completely masked by the light. In the center of them all, Desmond stood with a g-gnome on his shoulder. Beside him, stood another person, still obscured by the shadows in the room.

"I have confirmed that two of our correspondents were successfully able to infiltrate the League Academy. Everything seems to be going according to plan."

"Excellent," a screen with a large figure of a man spoke at the report. "We'll move along as planned."

"And what of my mission?"

"You will come of use to us in due time."

"Pardon my intrusion," Desmond spoke up with an annoyed countenance. He shuffled forward as his g-gnome glowed red with telepathic energy. "I've just been informed of an intrusion on sublevel thirty-six. Two young men in costumes."

A brief pause of silence filled the room as the situation was taken in. Finally, the same screen from before spoke again. "I've changed my mind. No doubt it is the League's young brats causing trouble. Take care of them for me."

The man cloaked in shadows nodded and stepped into the light to reveal Red Arrow.

"It will be done."

* * *

１月２７日 １３：３２

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Zuzu opened the door to reveal Petra standing in the doorway, evil book in hand. Zuzu turned from her to the book with a tired expression. "You must be Petra."

'Your friend's here,' she informed Haru silently as Petra waved and invited herself in.

"And you're Zuzu," she guessed. Petra had been let in on everything after the encounter with Haru. She had agreed to help them and took the book for herself. She said she knew someone who could translate it for them. It had been a few days since then.

Zuzu nodded and closed the door behind them, staring at the book pervasively. "You translated it?"

Petra turned back to her form her place in the main room. She leaned to one leg and crossed her arms, smirking. "I wouldn't be here if I didn't."

Zuzu nodded and moved to join her as Haru entered with his mask over his face. Zuzu flushed with embarrassment as he nodded his greeting to Petra. She stomped towards him with an angry expression and stopped right in front of him. "She knows where you live, and you're worried about your identity being a secret?"

Petra turned her head to the side, hiding her laugh in the sleeves of her shirt as Haru stood still. A second later, he removed his mask and laid it on the table while Zuzu sighed and held the bridge of her nose. She had been in a bad mood of sorts since the book caused her to pass out. As soon as it opened, the energy within it reached out to her. She confirmed it was the same being as that of what the demon showed her. Ever since, she had been particularly reserved and tired. Every time she encountered it, it seemed to take a piece of her vitality with it, and Zuzu was still trying to recover.

"Do you want something to drink?" Zuzu asked, filing through the formalities. Petra shook her head.

"Let's get to business, shall we?" She threw the book atop the coffee table with a somber expression.

"Japan's first supervillain, Brushogun."

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **You guys have no idea how excited I've been to reveal the Japanese plot line. I finally did it! Hope you're excited as I am. Tell me if you were able to guess Brushogun was the villain!**

 **This is my longest chapter yet. It was a hell of a hassle to write but very fun. Thank you guys again for your reviews! I love them all. I hope to become a much better writer by the end of this story.**

 **I'm still accepting OC's at the moment. No longer at a real lack of them as I've adjusted the storylines, but the more the merrier. Please send a word or two out to any friends you might have in the YJ community. I'd love to have their OCs as well.**

 **I've also swapped the first chapter of this story with a rewritten one. A few of the submitted characters are in it now if you'd like to go back and check it out.**

 **Not sure when I'll update next, but shouldn't be long. Until next time!**


	6. Lone Heroes

"Hanzo!"

A man in distressed clothes ran into the quiet shop panickedly, his intrusion slicing through the serenity of the tea garden like a hot knife through butter. A man in warrior's garment looked up from his serving of tea calmly and looked to his disheveled retainer, waiting for an explanation. His retainer bowed his apology for the intrusion. He shook visibly as he bowed formally. The other man narrowed his eyes at his panic, concluding that something was very wrong.

"Sir, the village is under attack from a terrible demon."

Hanzo closed his eyes and set his tea down calmly. He lifted himself from his seat, his hand brushing over the sword on his side. The others in the tea house revered him with petrified awe as he calmly strode out of the tea house with a solemn countenance. Once outside, he looked around for the potential danger. The streets here were still abundant with energy and liveliness. Whatever danger that lie next door had not yet come to this part of the village.

Several samurai atop large and graceful horses flew by just then, sending villagers ducking for safety as they galloped hurriedly towards the outer village. Hanzo immediately whistled for his own horse as he located the demon's location. His horse, which had been placed nearby, came running towards him. Hanzo quickly straddled his steed and ushered it after the other samurai. He had traveled a long way to Kyoto from his home village in the East. Rumors of the capital being ravaged by demons had spread far and wide, attracting many a samurai to claim their right to protect the capital. Yet, for as many samurai came to Kyoto to vanquish the beasts, just as many returned home in funeral processions. It was not long before Hanzo, being pronounced a demon of the blade himself, was called upon to help the cause.

Yet, he was not anywhere near the capitol. Could the demons have come this far, he wondered as he pushed his horse faster. Before long, Hanzo had entered the outskirts of the village. The streets here were far quieter and he readied himself for battle. He pushed on slowly, coming across several dead bodies strewn about the road. Their blood stained the wood houses along the road, causing Hanzo to frown at the sight of slaughtered innocent. He drew his sword as he steeled himself and scanned the area. From up ahead, he could hear the sound of swords clashing, followed by the guttural drawl of a person greeting death. He ran forward and stepped into view just in time to see the last two samurai be slashed to death in bloody spews of red.

Hanzo narrowed his eyes at the demon as it turned to him, revealing it's truly hellish appearance. The red-skinned beast donned the traditional armor of a samurai in a deep green color. The helmet worn over it's head had two long protruding horns from it, adding to the severity of its ruby eyes and razor-like teeth.

Hanzo could see how it could best many a samurai at a time. Not only was the demon large in size, but an extra pair of arms wielding katanas extended from it's lower body, giving it a full offensive and defensive advantage.

The beast roared at him loudly and charged forward, its footsteps falling like an earthquake each time it touched the floor. Hanzo steadied himself and prepared for the first attack. He swung his sword up to block as the demon brought it's katana down like an axe. Hanzo grunted as the brutish attack left a ringing in his arms. He brushed it off and turned quickly with the demon as it tried to slice him with another sword. The two clashed again before sliding away from each other.

Hanzo regripped his sword, his arms still ringing from the blunt power effortlessly exerted by the demon. He narrowed his eyes and prepared for the demon to attack again. He would not be able to overpower the demon, so he would have to out-skill the beast. The demon stepped back and squatted low as it brought back one of it's three swords. A second later, it threw one like a spear at Hanzo, forcing him to roll out of the way or else be pierced by the blade.

As soon as he recovered the demon was atop him. Hanzo blocked the katana quickly, both their swords hovering an inch above his right shoulder. While he was preoccupied in keeping sword from cutting into his shoulder, the demon swung it's other blade at him. Hanzo grunted, exerting himself as he pushed the other sword off his and blocked again. With it's free arm, the demon reached back and grabbed the thrown katana, swiping at Hanzo as they were locked together. Hanzo threw the demon's blades back and ducked away to safety. Again, the beast walked towards him, deadly blades glinting threateningly in the rays from the sun.

Hanzo breathed in deeply as he sheathed his sword. Simply defending was not an option. He fiddled with the sheath until it came loose from his belt and slid out. He held it up before him and bowed with his eyes closed. He waited for the beast to close in on him as he waited for his opportunity.

The demon again raised it's word over it's head. At the same time, Hanzo unsheathed his katana, using one hand to block the attack with the sheath as his other held his katana skillfully. Now, it was his turn to attack. He turned inward before the beast could counterattack and slashed at it. His sword fell against it's armor as he got within it's range. Effortlessly blocking another attack, Hanzo began his assault.

By now, more samurai had arrived and watched in awe as Hanzo took on the demon alone. Hanzo brought up his sword in anticipation of another attack and used his sheath to strike a blow in the beast's gut before it could attack him again. It stumbled back despite it's size and snarled at Hanzo as he brought his weapons in a cross before him.

The beast tried him again, but failed as Hanzo clashed swords with it again. Hanzo turned, blocking an attack from his blind spot and turning inward as he switched with the sheath for defense. He jumped high as the demon's lower arm swung at him. He leaned back as another swipe came as soon as he landed. Using his sheath, he blocked two separate strikes before catching the two strikes at once. An opening revealing itself, he used his katana to cut across the demon's other arm. It fell clean from it's body, dropping with a heavy thud as it rolled across the dirt.

Hanzo allowed himself a small smirk as the samurai behind him cheered at the trophy. Yet, the victory was short lived as before Hanzo's own eyes, the beast reproduced the arm he had just cut off. Hanzo grunted as the demon kicked him while he was caught off guard. He tumbled roughly across the dirt, finally coming to a stop when he tore through a wood-built house. He groaned in pain, feeling several a broken rib as he moved slightly. He coughed out his blood, stunned by the beast's raw power. Ignoring his pain, he wrestled his way out of the debris and crawled from the house weakly. His vision blurred violently as he set his eyes upon the beast. It had recovered its lost blade as it looked at him with a mocking smile. Hanzo felt his head go light as it turned away from him and set its attention on the group of younger samurai.

Hanzo cursed and leaped forward in an attempt to fight but his leg had been twisted beyond repair in his fall. He fell against the dirt, his world spinning as his eyes closed over the scene of the demon's dark shadow falling over the scared group of samurai.

* * *

A water God came to him in his sleep. Hanzo's dreams prophesied the country of Japan in complete darkness. Demons ruled the new underworld, living at ease as humans suffered in this poisoned world. The once rich lands became dyed in black tar as the sky above was dyed in the blood of everyone lost. Those that were left alive were forced to kill their own to survive and live a life of misery until they too fell to the rot of that world.

A man with a severed smile appeared to him then, his skin made of paper and his veins made of ink. With one hand, he reached out towards him.

Hanzo awoke with a start as his dream came to an end. He rolled to his side, throwing up as soon as he awoke. His head spun from the prophecy, forcing him to stay on the floor as he recollected himself. He stretched his legs, his wounds and broken bones miraculously healed by the water God's power. Shakily, he got up and looked about him. All around him was death and destruction. Bodies lay about him, freshly slain from the beast. There was not a sign of life anywhere as he came to his feet. The village, once prosperous and lively, had all but perished in the span of a day. Fear settled in his heart as he worried the prophecy was realized, but this was only a glimpse of the hell to come.

Resigned with a sense of guilt, Hanzo shouted his grief over all the lives lost.

An hour passed before Hanzo had calmed enough to take action. He vowed revenge against the demon, He promised the heavens who granted him a second chance at life to be their avenging warrior. With their blessing, he would wipe out the evil that infected their world.

He recovered his sword, immediately dropping it as a heavenly glow radiated off it as soon as he picked it up. The sword fell with a small clack as it turned back to it's original form. Tentatively, Hanzo touched the sword again. It glowed a soft blue at his touch as elegant writing appeared engraved on the blade.

Hanzo bowed his thanks for the blessed blade and sheathed it at his side. Standing tall, he set off on his divine mission to rid Japan of evil.

"What happened next?"

"Not sure," Petra replied, leafing through her notes. "After freeing Japan from Brushogun's hold, he became a renowned samurai and died several years later."

"And the sword?" Zuzu asked.

"Lost in the sands of time," Petra announced as she closed her book for emphasis.

'It's a normal sword. It could be anywhere,' Haru pointed out.

Zuzu nodded her agreement. "You have a point. The sword takes a normal appearance. If it's blessed, we have no way to tell."

"Can you two please stop having private conversations without me?" Petra scowled, scrunching up her nose in response.

"If you'd allow us in your head, it wouldn't be so private," Zuzu countered and folded her arms.

"Maybe if you just spoke aloud like everyone else," Petra quipped with a glare. Zuzu narrowed her eyes back at her in annoyance.

'Zu.' Haru quelled her as the two had a stare-off.

Zuzu huffed and stood up from her place on the couch. "Okay, so Brushogun is still alive and we don't have the sword to defeat him. Where does that leave us?"

"I don't think he is alive," Petra spoke up, opening up the cursed book and presenting it to them. "This is the book Brushogun used to produce his monsters. It's the last remnant of his power. If he were still alive, either of you should sense it from this alone."

Zuzu frowned at the book as a wave of nausea washed over her at the memory of the book's affront. She shook it off and turned to Haru. Despite her powers, she couldn't sense anything from the book.

Haru frowned as he inspected the book closely. He shook his head, signaling his findings. There was no power remaining in the book.

"We don't sense anything, but that doesn't change the fact that those creatures were after the book."

"Were they though?" Petra countered, receiving silence as her response. She continued, "If Brushogun was indeed defeated, then what produced those creatures?"

Zuzu paused, "It had to be the book."

Petra shook her head in disagreement. "We should go back to the village where we found the book and do more research. We're missing something."

* * *

January 22. 8:44 pm.

"Project Kr," Green Lantern voiced as the two girls came upon the bottom most lab center. Her eyes narrowed as she immediately recognized the symbol on the door. "The atomic symbol for kryptonite."

"What do you think is in there?" Megan asked, looking up at the gigantic door with awe.

"We're going to find out," GL responded matter-of-factly as she started towards the door. She placed herself in front of the panel and began hacking. She wasn't nearly as good as Robin, but with the help of the ring she could get into the most basic of places. Unfortunately, that was not the case here. GL grunted and backed off before she set off any alarms. Miss Martian floated up behind her, seeing her unsuccessful attempt at breaking in.

"Let me try." She put her hand to the wall and focused on adjusting her density to phase through. She bit her lip as she concentrated with all her might, but nothing happened. She retracted her hand and gave a sheepish laugh to pronounce her inability.

GL raised a brow in return but was quickly distracted when the door clicked with the unlocking of the tumblers. Reacting quickly, she hastily grabbed Miss Martian and drew her in the upper corner of the hall. The two huddled close, pressing themselves as far to the edge as they could. The doors opened with a soft hiss, and out stepped a woman and one of the monsters.

Green Lantern's eyes widened as she recognized the silhouette of the artificial species as that of the one she saw in the elevator. She held her breath as the pair walked out into the hallway. Seizing their opportunity, GL signaled for Miss M to start moving towards the door. She had barely gotten to it when the creature paused at the end of the hall, a step behind his partner. GL froze, thinking they were caught, but sighed in relief as the creature shook it off and continued on it's way. Counting her luck, GL quickly slid into the room just before the door shut.

Miss Martian placed a hand on her shoulder, signaling her presence in the pitch black of the room. GL placed her hand over hers passingly as she produced a light from her ring. Quickly locating a control panel, she found the power button and lit up the room.

With a start, the two girls realized they weren't the only ones in the room. At the center of the room, a boy bearing Superman's symbol stood encaged in a glass dome with three aliens asleep at his side.

Both girls blushed unconsciously as they observed the sleeping boy. He was handsome, his features resembling that of a son of Aphrodite. GL shook out of it first, quickly putting two and two together with another look at his symbol. "He's Superman's clone."

"He doesn't look like him though," Miss Martian countered, staring at the boy curiously.

GL narrowed her eyes as she quickly got to work, realizing the severity of this situation. She turned back to the control panel and began working out it's mechanics, trying to extract more information. "We need to shut it down. Whatever happens, this clone must never leave Cadmus."

Finally snapping out of her daze, MM turned to her in surprise. "What? But, why? We can't!"

"He's an evil super clone, rookie. We can't let him stay in the bad guy's hands," GL scolded, finally getting into the system.

"But he's alive," MM quarreled, looking upon the boy with pity.

"All the more danger," GL announced and came away from the panel. "Can you get in contact with the others? I'm going to call the League."

Despite her opposition, Miss M did as she was told, but could not receive a signal. She turned to Green Lantern, finding her to have the same difficulties. GL frowned and started for the door, "We need to get higher up."

They were halfway to the door when it shuddered again with the click of locks. They both drew back, preparing for a fight when Robin appeared in the doorway. He stood there, just as surprised as they were. He opened and closed his mouth in shock as GL led them closer, "You beat me here?"

"Losing your touch, Boy Wonder," GL teased half-heartedly as she pulled him out of the doorway and explained what they had discovered. She had barely finished her explanation when a great gust of wind flew past them.

Kid Flash skidded to a stop as he ran past them. "Oh, there you guys are. Look, time to go. Mission's a bust. We got attacked on our floor, but luckily Red Arrow was there to help. He told us to come down here and get you, so let's go- Is that a super clone of Superman?"

"Now's not the time, Wally," GL warned, speaking with a scorning tone as her patience was beginning to be pushed to it's limits.

"I disagree," Aqualad said as he finally caught up with everyone. "We cannot leave him there."

GL groaned out loud as the boys re-entered the laboratory and reluctantly followed them in. Aqualad took in the situation and turned to Robin, "Can you get him out?"

"Do we want to?" Robin asked, heading to the control panel.

"Don't think we have a choice," Kid interrupted, stepping away from the glass dome as Superboy opened his eyes from within. His eyes narrowed at the team as he was released from his bonds. He pounded on the glass twice before it erupted in an explosion of fragmented pieces.

Aqualad grunted as he took the first hit, flying back into the wall of the room. The others set themselves into action as Superboy quickly became a real threat. Kid ran and threw himself on the clone's back, doing his best to restrain the power house. "Calm down, Suppy! We're not your enemy!"

Superboy ignored him and reached back, tearing the boy off his back with ease. Kid gasped in surprise as he was picked up and hurled beside a recovering Aqualad. Robin came next, hurling several freezing batarangs in Superboy's direction.

Superboy growled with rage as he flinched against the blocks of ice that traveled up the right side of his body. Green Lantern quickly assisted him as she quickly chained Superboy down with a heavy weight.

With another animalistic grunt, Superboy forced himself through the ice and broke free. He grabbed his end of the heavy chain GL had put around him and turned it into a weapon of his own. He began to twirl with it, using the heavy ball at the end like a wrecking ball as he knocked GL out of the air. Robin ran in just then, gaining a hit or two before Superboy stopped him mid-kick and punched him hard in the face.

Miss Martian caught Robin with her powers before he could tumble too far and helped him to recover his balance. Seeing he was okay, she turned back to Superboy and gave it her own try. 'I don't want to hurt you!'

Superboy roared in response to her voice in his head and jumped high in an attempt to grab her. Miss M floated away in time and again tried reaching out to him. Superboy, however, tore into the construction that was his birthplace and ripped it from the ground. He hurled it at Miss Martian before she could evade, effectively trapping her inside what was left of the dome as she fell against the ground.

A punch came at his side as Aqualad teamed up with Kid Flash for a rematch. Kid followed up with two more punches before being joined with a kick from Robin. Superboy roared in anger at the onslaught, giving into his fury even more with the attacks. He grabbed Robin, who had yet to escape, and slammed him into the ground. Aqualad ran to his rescue but missed as Superboy jumped high with the young teen and slammed him into the ground. Robin groaned helplessly against the ground, quickly losing consciousness from the impact. Superboy got off him and turned, punching Kid Flash as he tried to sneak up on him. Kid Flash shouted in pain, taking the hit hard as he rolled off to the side.

Superboy grunted, slamming against the ground suddenly as a railcar fell upon him, courtesy of a very pissed off Green Lantern. He rolled his shoulders under the car and huffed with force it took to lift it off him. GL quickly dematerialized her construction before he could use it against them again. Instead, she secluded him in half of a wall as Aqualad produced his weapons and came at him. The walls served to trap Superboy as Aqualad cornered him inside.

Aqualad dodged a punch from the false kryptonian and used his mallet to throw Superboy into GL's wall. He came closer and zapped him with his electricity while he was still recovering, yet it didn't have the effect he had hoped. Superboy managed to throw him off before his powers could take full effect. He seized Aqualad and used him as a projectile against GL, who had again taken cover in the air. She gasped as Aqualad was helpless to stop himself. The two collided heads with a harsh impact and tumbled to the ground.

Superboy huffed with victory, but was quickly overcome with a severe headache as the recently freed Miss Martian began tinkering with the telepathic aliens in the room. Miss Martian gasped as she found the telepathic residue of his force-fed education. She resurrected the communications, experiencing everything he did.

She quickly became overwhelmed by the memories and kneeled to the floor as her mental guards were broken down. Superboy recovered himself and approached her slowly to take her down. She remained still, calling out to him once more as her mind was flooded with Superboy's past. 'The world is so much more.'

'You deserve a life of your own, Superboy,' she said finally.

Then everything went black.

* * *

10:04 pm.

"I told you we should've left."

"It's not my fault the clone turned on us!"

Miss Martian stirred as she awoke to the sound of her friends bickering. She instantly registered the restraints on her hands as she hung limply in a glass compartment. Slowly regaining consciousness, she registered her surroundings. She along with everyone else were entrapped while Superboy watched over them from the outside.

"Hey, moron! We're the good guys," Kid Flash berated him as he resisted against his restraints with all his might. Superboy turned to him and glared, but remained silent, not speaking a word.

'Superboy.'

He turned to her as she said his name. Miss M couldn't help a sigh of relief as she realized she was still connected with him. 'You have to get us out of here.'

Superboy remained stone-faced, as somber as when she first laid eyes on him. Miss M groaned, trying to pick herself up as she hurriedly recovered herself. 'I know what you are. I know what they made you to be, but I see something else. You're more than what they raised you to be.'

'Cadmus is my home. I live because of Cadmus.'

Miss Martian shook her head. 'You're more than that. You're modeled after the Superman. You're everything he is. If you could see how amazing he is...we could introduce you.'

Superboy opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by the entrance of Dr. Desmond and his assistant. "What are you still doing here? You belong in your cage! Return at once!"

Superboy glared at him, but did nothing as he turned to follow orders. He was on his way out when Miss Martian reached out to him once more. 'Please. What would Superman do?'

"You!" Desmond pointed and barked at his assistant. "Clone the heroes and prepare for disposal of their bodies."

"Pass! Batcave is crowded enough," Robin quipped as he fished a piece of metal from his glove to pick his locks.

The rest of them started struggling against their bonds in vain as large needles extended from their pods and leered threateningly over them. Desmond's assistant typed something on the panel, causing the needles to strike them and send waves of pain over the young heroes.

From deep beyond Cadmus, Superboy heard them cry out and turned back. The genomorph at his side glowed red as it curiously searched his mind. It made a clicking noise with it's voice, questioning him. Superboy turned fully and began walking back to the lab. The genomorph, following Superboy's thought pattern, clicked it's agreement and hung on tightly as Superboy gained speed and raced back to the lab.

"You? I didn't call for you," Desmond sneered, coming up to Superboy only to be pushed on his side. Superboy didn't miss a beat as he strode up to the panel. The assistant backed up, scared when Superboy's genomorph took action. It glowed, controlling her mind to release the heroes as Superboy desired. She followed orders dazedly, and the heroes were released.

The five heaved with relief as their torture was halted. Robin, recovering first, fiddled with his locks some more before finally freeing himself. He hopped down and rubbed his wrists, shaking off the lingering pain of their cloning treatment. "Ugh, finally! Lucky Batman isn't here or he'd have my head for taking so long!"

"Wrong thing to be worried about here," Green Lantern gritted out as she hung weakly against her restraints with the others in similar conditions.

"Yeah, yeah," Robin replied as he darted over to Superboy and his genomorph. He took over the control panel and set everyone free while Superboy went to Miss Martian. He caught her as she fell with her sudden release.

"Oh," she blushed and held her head as she rested in his arms. He helped her to her feet as everyone recovered themselves.

"It's what Superman would do," he explained, looking at them blankly.

"It talks?" Kid gaped, freezing mid-stretch.

"He's a friend," Miss Martian corrected, coming to Superboy's defense.

"Whatever," Green Lantern brushed them off. "Can we leave now?"

"Couldn't agree more, beautiful," Kid said, adjusting his goggles over his eyes as he ran ahead of everyone else.

"Come on," Aqualad ordered as Robin destroyed their DNA samples and retreated. Green Lantern followed after them as Miss Martian and Superboy remained inside.

"Come with us," Miss M said, pleading more than asking. Superboy turned to Desmond and then back at her. His genomorph glowed at his side, voicing its approval. He nodded and together they ran out of the room as Desmond started barking out more orders to stop them.

"Activate every genomorph in Cadmus."

* * *

"Get in! Hurry!" Green Lantern ordered, ushering the two aliens inside of the elevator as Robin finished hacking it to his favor. She stood back, holding off a troop of genomorphs trying to stop them from advancing. She formed a wall with her powers and pushed it ahead, shoveling the lithe genomorphs down the hall as she ran into the elevator.

Robin closed the doors as soon as she was safely inside. She huffed, overwhelmed for a while by the calmness inside from that of the war zone outside. She shook it off and raised her arms to her head so she could take larger breaths while the others made a plan.

"Are you sure we can trust him?" She turned to Miss M as the boys argued over what strategy was better to escape.

"I looked into his head. We can trust him. His name is Superboy and he belongs with us," Miss M appealed, unconsciously stepping closer to protect him. GL narrowed her eyes as she evaluated Superboy for herself. Strong, a threat, and capable of turning on them at any time. He was by all means untrustable, but one look at Miss Martian and she changed her mind.

She backed off with a dismissive 'fine'. At least he was useful as eye candy.

Her musings were cut short as the elevator came to a screeching halt and the doors opened to an army of genomorphs. GL acted fast and threw up a shield, holding off the horde as Robin started dismantling the emergency exit. He climbed up and out of the elevator, followed by the others. Green Lantern was last as she removed her shield and replaced it with bars over the exit hatch.

"Need a lift?" She joked as she created a platform for those without the power of flight. The three boys hopped on, causing GL to start their ascent. Superboy jumped up after them with Miss Martian beside him. His genomorph clicked again panickedly as he began to lose momentum. Superboy's stomach heaved upwards as they began to fall. He curled one arm around his g-gnome as he realized it was trying to tell him he couldn't fly.

Miss Martian gasped as she realized their predicament and were quite literally falling behind. She called out to Superboy in surprise and raced to catch him, using her powers to help lift him up.

"I can't fly," he said in disbelief as she carried him to where the others were.

"It's okay," Miss M cooed as they took shelter atop GL's construct. Seeing them stop, she turned to them with curiosity. "We are not leaving?"

"Red Arrow's still down here somewhere. We don't leave without him," Kid explained as Robin opened the door for them.

"Why is he here?" GL found herself asking as they ran down the hall in search of him.

"The same reason as us. His independent research led him back here," Aqualad informed in place of Kid. The group raced down the hall and turned down a corridor, running straight into the enemy lines. Quickly backing up, they turned to run again but were stopped as they were cut off by another horde.

Desmond pushed his way to the front angrily, fury radiating off him as he glared at the heroes. "No one leaves here. Cadmus will give me the power to stop you."

The heroes stepped back cautiously as Desmond produced a glowing, blue vial from his coat pocket. Desmond by himself wasn't a threat, but his brawns, or lack thereof, was not what they should be afraid of. What he lacked in physical ability, he made up for in intelligence.

The six heroes readied themselves as Desmond tipped back the vial in his mouth, drinking every last drop. Desmond hunched over in pain as the fluid ran down his throat like acid. The feeling quickly spread as his whole body came on fire . His muscles rippled beneath his shirt as they quickly tore and expanded. Every bone in his body seemed to break and regrow itself as his skin turned blue and he grew to unimaginable size. His skin tore off him in pieces as he became a monster completely unrecognizable from his human body.

Superboy stepped forward, naively confident as Desmond displayed his new form. Despite his bulking size, Desmond was surprisingly quick and seized Superboy in one hand before the boy could react. His genomorph hopped off his back in fear as Desmond roared in his face. He jumped high, breaking through the ceiling all the way to the top floor of the building.

"Superboy!" Miss Martian called out in alarm as she caught his g-gnome and flew up after him. Green Lantern chased after her, building a staircase as she went for the others to use. When the five made it out, Superboy and Desmond were in the midst of trading blows. Superboy had gotten a grip around Desmond's waist and was trying to topple him on his back, but that proved to be more difficult than he initially thought.

Desmond smirked at his effort and set two large, meaty hands on either of Superboy's shoulders. He squeezed hard as he picked the boy up and flipped him onto the ground, creating a crater in the cement with the impact.

Miss Martian quickly came to his rescue, occupying Desmond's attention before he could do anything else to their new teammate. Desmond took two swipes at her but missed as she kept her distance a safe foot away. She called on several large pieces of equipment and hurled them at Desmond as the others joined the brawl.

GL swooped in and swung a sledgehammer over his head. Desmond dropped, dizzying at the hit but refused to go down. He picked up the equipment previously thrown at him and used it as a bat against Green Lantern. She grunted as she was hit hard in the gut and sent flying back.

KF took GL's place as she was thrown out of the game. He punched Desmond across the face and whipped around to his back. He hopped on top of him, squeezing his body around him as tightly as he could.

Desmond ignored him as Aqualad and Robin tag teamed together and uppercut him. Kid laughed as Desmond's head snapped back from the force of the hit. Desmond recovered himself and quickly blocked two separate attacks from either of the boys. Kid gasped and hung on tightly as Desmond started bashing around the two boys like an angry bull.

"Woah there, big fella!" He exclaimed, quickly slipping from Desmond's back and flying off. He rubbed his head as he hit the back wall. He looked up dizzily, just in time to see Robin and Aqualad coming his way. He flinched as the two collided against him, giving him a headache all over again.

"We can't overpower him," Aqualad said, rubbing his head as he rolled off the others.

"I have a plan. But I don't think you'll like it," Robin announced, looking out as Miss Martian and Superboy kept Desmond busy.

"We have to find another way," Aqualad replied, shaking his head.

"Do you have any better ideas?" Robin quipped back as the three of them got back on their feet.

"Looks like you guys could use some help."

The group turned, finding their lost companion walking towards them. "Red Arrow!"

"Keep him busy. I've got a plan," Red Arrow announced, withdrawing an arrow from his back. The other three nodded with a smile as their friend took charge. Red arrow was always meant to be the leader of their group. They should have followed him in solidarity instead of working under the League's command, a decision they were beginning to regret.

"We'll leave it to you," Aqualad announced as he and the others took on Desmond. Red Arrow smirked as they left him. Calmly, he found his vantage point, unconcerned with the beating his friends were taking to give him time. He pulled out his bow slowly and launched several arrows into the building's infrastructure, setting them to explode in 10 seconds through a device on his arm.

With a start, the others quickly realized what he was doing. Robin turned to him incredulously and shouted. "No! Don't!"

Red Arrow ignored him and aimed another arrow at Desmond. He released his hold, sending it flying as the clock to his explosions reached five. Desmond caught the arrow before it could impact him. He smirked, thinking he won, when a cloud of gas exploded in his face.

The others, having no time to go after Desmond quickly regrouped and started running for safety. They were still several feet from the exit when the building exploded. Superboy threw himself over Miss Martian and his g-gnome while GL constructed a shield around her and her younger teammates. Aqualad raced to Red Arrow and tackled him to the ground as he took the brunt of the explosion.

The building fell around them, covering the young heroes in ruthless debris. Superboy was the first to escape, powering through the strength needed to lift the rubble off of them. He huffed tiredly as he helped a coughing Miss Martian up. His g-gnome clicked and pointed to his left where a faint glow of green could be seen beneath the debris. Superboy turned and moved to help Green Lantern and the others out. They had just been uncovered when Aqualad and Red Arrow resurfaced to the top at the same time.

"What were you thinking?" Aqualad glared, his anger getting the best of him for once.

"What do you mean? I saved us," Red Arrow growled back defiantly as the group gathered near.

"You nearly cost us our lives," Aqualad scolded, feeling a number of injuries across his back from their fight. He put his trust in the older to make the best decision and he had been betrayed.

"Cadmus needed to be shut down, and I took down Desmond in the process," Red Arrow defended.

"We lost all the research that was inside!" Robin yelled back, his torn suit hanging loosely off his shoulder. The others were in similar conditions, scrapes and bruises lining their bodies. They all wore frowns on their faces, having lost a deep measure of respect for their eldest comrade.

"Heroes should be willing to do whatever it takes to take down the enemy. If you aren't willing to recognize what I did was the best point of action, then maybe you do deserve to be in super school. Let me know when you graduate to a real hero," Red Arrow chastised scaldingly as he stormed off without another word.

* * *

 **A/N: Hey guys, sorry for the late update on this one. This is one of those chapters I felt like was filler but necessary to write so I was a bit unmotivated to write this time. I also completely lost all track of time so I totally didn't mean for it to be updated so late! Won't happen again!**

 **I'll be updating soon with a new chapter and some new characters to introduce! Also, next chapter will be the beginning of merging Japan plotline with US so look forward to that!**

 **I want to thank those of you for the consistent reviews. I love all your thoughts about the story and where it's going. Would love to hear from you guys again soon!**

 **Anyways, thanks for reading!**


	7. Atomic

January 29. 1: 15 pm.

 _Superhero Boys Put On Makeup for the First Time_

"Is this...is this...what is this?" A tall boy with dreadlocks asked as he squinted at a sparkly pink tube of makeup.

Beside him, Dorian laughed and took the tube from him. He read it closely before turning to the other to the camera and triumphantly declaring, "Highlighter."

"Highlighter? Like highlighter?" the other boy asked suspiciously and started stroking his hand over the table as if highlighting a paper.

Dorian burst into laughter and the two smiled, "What is that? No, I think this is what goes on the cheeks?"

"Yo, I used the wrong thing then, man," the other boy laughed, earning another rise from Dorian. The two were mid-makeup, attempting to do their best for another of Dorian's videos. Both looked a mess as misused makeup clotted their faces.

"I give up, man. I can't do this. Women are amazing. I don't know how they do this," the other boy chuckled and threw his makeup on the desk before them to show he was finished.

"Don't give up, man," Dorian laughed as he started coating his lips with gloss. "You just need a little lipstick."

"Yeah?" the other asked, and sat up. He dug through the make-up on the table until he found a tube of red. He untwisted the bottle and tenderly dotted the liquid on his lips. He mashed his lips together, turning to Dorian and making a popping sound. The two burst into fits of laughter again at the absurdity of how they looked.

"You look hot, bro."

"I knew red was my color," the other joked as he posed dramatically for the camera. "Yo, I look like Kim K up in here. Just call me DeShauna."

Dorian snorted at that, "DeShauna? What's my name?"

"Dorienne...a."

The two's uproar was cut short as a knock came at the door. They both widened their eyes with horror as the door creaked open. They scrambled to stop the person from entering but Frankie was already in. She froze as she looked at them, a blush coming to her cheeks from her surprise.

Again, the two boys howled with laughter, falling back in their chairs at Frankie's expression. She grimaced embarrassedly as she excused herself, "It seems I've interrupted something."

"No, don't go!" Dorian pleaded, tears forming in his eyes as he tried to get a hold of himself. Both he and DeShaun recovered themselves with grins and reached out to her.

"What's up?"

"I was talking to Carlos and he suggested we all go out to the city," Frankie said, standing off to the side to avoid the camera.

"Really?" Dorian asked, a look of confusion coming over his face.

"Carlos did?" DeShaun added, mimicking his tone.

Frankie bit her lip, having been caught in her lie. She shuffled with her hands and leaned to the side as she looked to the door and away from them. "He didn't disagree when I suggested inviting the others."

The two boys turned to each other and shrugged their shoulders. "Good enough for me."

They stood up together and went to the bathroom, asking Frankie to wait while they washed their makeup off.

"What? You don't want to go like that?" She teased as she leaned back against Dorian's bed.

"I mean I look pretty good right now," DeShaun admitted, staring at himself in the mirror before scrubbing his face with a wet towel, successfully smearing his makeup across his face. "Aw, man."

"Frankie, help." Dorian begged as he squinted at her, his face dripping wet with freshly applied water.

"I'll meet you guys downstairs," Frankie rolled her eyes and hid her laugh as she excused herself from the room, ignoring their desperate pleas. She was on her way out to meet Carlos when she was joined by Melanie in the hall. Frankie stopped out of curiosity as the shorter girl began following her. "Yes?"

"What are you doing?" she asked, looking at Frankie with a calculative gaze. She held her hands behind her back and peered up at her with a taunting expression. Frankie stiffened, seeing she was being studied behind the girl's smile.

"We were going to go out," Frankie trailed, clearly uncomfortable with the interrogation.

Melanie smiled, and bounced with false pleasure as she replied, "I'll come too."

"Oh, okay," Frankie said lamely. Melanie had quickly got a reputation of being anti-social in the school. And considering all the kids who were anti-social, that was saying something. She hadn't been exactly friendly with anyone despite her engaging them. Frankie looked up to the ceiling as they walked together, too flustered to deny the girl's invitation.

Carlos raised a brow as she came with Melanie in tow from down the hall. He turned his gaze from them, avoiding offering any kind of greeting. Speaking of antisocial, Carlos was hardly the better.

"Melanie, DeShaun, and Dorian have agreed to join us," Frankie announced as the two came to a stop next to him. She was met with a brief nod as Carlos looked to the side. Frankie forced a weak smile on her face as she second-guessed their adventure. Five superpowered teens with individual quirks running around Jump City didn't sound like the best idea anymore.

"Worried, kitten?" Melanie asked, sensing her discomfort. She turned to her with an amused smile.

Frankie sighed as she had to deal with Melanie's taunting. "Yes."

"Don't worry," she said playfully, bouncing on her toes. "I can decrease our probability of causing a ruckus."

Frankie sighed again in relief, thankful that Melanie wasn't teasing her this time. "Thank you."

"Mmhmm," she nodded and pointed down the hall. "Here comes trouble."

Frankie turned, spying Dorian and DeShaun walking up to them, still rubbing the makeup off their faces with their hands. "Trouble indeed."

Frankie sighed and moved towards the door, "Everyone ready?"

"Wait, are we going in our uniforms?" Dorian asked, pinching his blazer for show. The others shrugged, not thinking it was that big of a deal.

DeShaun raised his hand in response, speaking up. "How are we getting there?"

The group responded by collectively turning to Dorian as he looked around. "Oh, right!"

He started ahead and took the lead of the group as they exited the building. "I can do this."

The group behind him shrugged, having no better option if they didn't want to get caught by the school for stealing a boat. They made it down to a secluded part of the beach and gathered in front of the waves.

"Okay," Dorian said, gazing at the water as if it would give him an answer of how to do this. "Let me try…"

He called on a stream of water and brought it over DeShaun before pausing. He had intended to wrap the boy in a ball of water before he rethought his idea. "Nevermind."

He dropped the water to the side and turned back to the waves, studying them closely as he tried to think of another idea. Frankie rolled her eyes and turned to the water, walking forward. She started into the water line, seemingly stepping on the sand, but as she went further, it became apparent she was standing on water. She turned back to them shakily, struggling to stay atop the roll of the waves. "Any time now, Summers."

"Oh, right!" Dorian started and extended his hand. He sectioned off the water she was standing on and brought it towards him. Frankie stumbled with the movement, her foot splashing within the section of water slightly before she regained her balance. Dorian added to the water, giving her more room to balance as he focused on stabilizing it.

"Uh," he said, and climbed on as an experiment. The water sunk like a cushion beneath him, but kept him afloat. "Okay, we're good."

Melanie gave him a skeptical look as Carlos and DeShaun climbed on without another word. "Are you sure about this?"

"Should be fine," Doria guessed, extending his hand to help her up. Melanie frowned and got aboard against her better judgement.

"Everyone hang on," Dorian instructed as he moved them ahead into the water. It was a rocky start, but eventually he got a better hold of it. The trip was leisurely as Dorian took his time to get them across the water while everyone enjoyed the sea breeze offered to them.

"So how long has everyone been in this hero business?" Melanie asked as she sat over the edge of the water, miraculously dry despite being surrounded by water.

"I'm from Burlington, West Virginia. I saved a neighbor's dog from drowning and that's about it," DeShaun admitted, laughing at his own inexperience.

"Err, yeah, me too. I haven't done that much," Dorian confessed as he drove them further.

"I haven't done anything," Frankie announced sheepishly.

They turned to Carlos who grunted at them in response. "Ex-marine."

"Woah," Dorian exclaimed. "How old are you?"

"Nineteen," Carlos replied, frowning, but leaving the others stunned.

"I'm the same!" Melanie interrupted their awe as she answered her question herself. "No experience~."

"So we all have a lot to learn," Dorian guessed as they passed a boat with several stunned passengers.

Frankie ducked to avoid them and whispered to the others, "Should we be wearing disguises?"

"Nah, no one knows who we are," DeShaun answered calmly as he ignored their stares.

"Do you care who sees your identity?" Melanie asked with her signature lolling smile.

Carlos shook his head in reply as Frankie bit her lip, "Well, no, not exactly. I'm just not sure if now is the right time to be doing so...do you guys care who sees you?"

"No."

"No."

"No." The other three answered all simultaneously, sending Frankie into a fit of embarrassment. She resigned herself to be quiet before she said anything else of difference.

"We're almost there," Dorian announced, smiling. He was happy that everyone was getting along for the first time. He wanted this experience to be fun for all of them.

The group nodded and those who were seated stood up as the opposite beach started approaching them fast.

"Uh-oh," Dorian said as he began having trouble slowing down against the motion of the waves. The others scrambled to hold on to each other as they were nearly knocked from the makeshift boat. Dorian grimaced as he struggled to keep his water formation together as they got closer and closer to the sand. "Brace for impact!"

The five of them were thrown onto the sand in one final jolt as Dorian lost his grip on his powers and hoped for the best. They each braced for impact against the sand, prepared to get a mouthful of tiny rocks when they froze mid-air. DeShaun laughed as they all became encompassed in a soft, milky-white glow. "Got you."

They sighed with relief as DeShaun gently lowered everyone to the sandy floor and let them recover. Melanie glared at Dorian and punched him in the shoulder as soon as she was down. "We're taking a boat back!"

"Ouch, my bad," Dorian put up his hands and accepted the hit. Frankie coughed, taking their attention as she pointed around them. Quite a few people had been gathered at the beach and were staring at the young heroes in surprise.

Dorian laughed weakly at their stares and bowed. "Thank you."

Melanie and DeShaun waved at the people as they stared while Carlos went to Frankie's side. He stood in front of her, using his large body to block her from their stares. Frankie blushed and accepted his protection, hiding behind his back . "Thank you."

He nodded, showing no hint of emotion as he started forward. The others followed after, quickly leaving the scene as the people stayed behind, unsure of what to make of the situation.

"So what now?" Dorian asked, revitalized by being off the island. They hardly lived anywhere deserving of international fame, but Jump City was still a big city and it excited them all the more.

"Pizza."

* * *

１月３０日 ８：２２

"Landing in one," Miss Martian announced as she brought her ship to a stop over the deep green forest. She carefully maneuvered her ship as she brought it down on the rocks over an isolated riverbank. She steadied the ship, making sure it was stable before she powered it down and got out of her seat. The rest of the team followed suit as they unbuckled themselves and gathered around the center of the ship.

"Alright, everyone," Aqualad instructed, looking over each and every one of them.

Everyone was in their civilian wear for their disguise on this mission. "Remember this isn't a vacation. We're here to investigate the recent magical influxes in the vicinity and find it's source, and put a stop to it if we can."

The group nodded their understanding as Aqualad dished out orders. "Robin, you and Miss Martian take the west side of Tokyo and do your research there. Green Lantern and Kid Flash will take the east. Superboy and I will stay here and look for clues. Report back to everyone immediately should you find anything. Remember this is a covert mission. Don't blow your cover."

* * *

3:16 pm.

"I call the last slice," Melanie declared, slamming her hand down on the table as they all eyed the last piece of pie on the table. They had ordered one hell of a pizza. Cheese for Frankie, extra meat for DeShaun, supreme with extra chile peppers for Carlos, pepperoni for Dorian, and vegetarian for Melanie.

They each had their preferences, but neither minded the last piece of cheese pizza that Frankie couldn't finish.

"No way, girl. I had my eye on that piece since I realized Frankie couldn't finish her crusts ," DeShaun argued, putting his hand over hers.

"Guys, I got us here. The last piece is mine," Dorian pouted, stubbornly putting his hand over theirs.

"I claim the last piece," Carlos announced, slamming his fist on the table and creating a small tremor. The three sweat-dropped and quickly gave up, unanimously passing the piece to him. He smiled slightly at his triumph as he reached for the hot sauce and drenched the pizza in it.

"Anyone down to go to the park?" Dorian suggested as Carlos devoured the pizza in one bite.

"Down," DeShaun replied cooly.

"In," Melanie sing-songed as Frankie nodded in agreement. They turned to Carlos who gave a satisfactory burp before grunting his agreement.

* * *

The park held a familiar nostalgia in its fields. Not because they were reminded of their time as kids, but because it held a sense of unrestrained freedom- something the group had forgotten while boarded up in classrooms. The group walked leisurely along a stone path, admiring the scenery as they strolled.

"Feels good to be outside," DeShaun commented passingly as he took in the view. He turned back to the group and smiled as he spotted Melanie skipping a bit ahead of everyone.

"I wonder what the other students are doing right now? Like the real superhero ones?" Dorian wondered aloud. They were allowed to leave the Academy whenever they wanted, and had been given special waivers from most classes. The two groups hardly interacted with each other.

"Probably another secret mission," Melanie guessed bitterly as she skipped.

"What do you mean?" Dorian asked curiously.

"They came back last week with bruises and cuts. They tried to hide it, but you saw how easy they went during training. They were injured," Melanie explained, stopping her joyful strides now that the conversation had changed.

"They've been going on secret missions?" Dorian asked again, his voice loosing it's normal vibrant tone. His face fell with the realization. He was so stuck on being a dynamic hero and working along the best, he hadn't even realized how useless he was compared to the others.

"Woah, hey," DeShaun stepped in upon seeing his friend's face. "That's fair. They're real heroes. No one expects them to just walk away from it. We'll get there too someday."

"How long until then?" Dorian moped, causing the group to circle around him. Both Carlos and Frankie held similar bitter expressions at the news. They hadn't expected on being left out of the hero community when they came here.

Melanie turned her gaze over the group carefully before finally smiling. "Well, hey, we're heroes too~. They don't deserve all the glory, right~? If we don't like it, let's go find out their secret base and force them to let us join."

"No, we can't do that," DeShaun spoke up, looking at each member quizzically. "Can we?"

No one else said anything else. They were clearly interested in the idea. Melanie smiled again at having their attention, "Then it's decided. When we go back, we have a mission of our own. We'll make our own team, but until then, we need to train. Get used to each other's powers. So let's play a game."

"What game?" Frankie asked. She, like the rest, were hanging off Melanie's every word as she spoke to their inner desires. They were all on board for her plan.

"Tag sounds easy enough," she suggested with a smirk. "Powers included of course~."

The group nodded and migrated to a grassy area of the park. They stood in the middle while Melanie continued giving orders. She placed her hand on Carlos' arm and smiled, "You take first tagger."

Carlos nodded and unfolded his arms, standing to his full height. The others backed up unconsciously, clearly intimidated by their bigger opponent. Melanie smiled in response. "Count to ten."

The group scattered, taking off in different directions as Carlos began counting down with his eyes closed.

Three. Two. One.

Melanie watched from her place in the shrubs as Carlos pinpointed Frankie and chased after her with thunderous speed. She remained hidden as Frankie ducked into the trees as Carlos began gaining on her. They ran out of sight and Melanie focused on the other person located not far from her.

"You're quite smart, aren't you?" She said aloud, though never turned her attention towards the tall boy.

"Your powers probability. It made sense you'd use it to avoid Carlos," DeShaun answered back sheepishly, coming out from his hiding spot a few feet away.

Melanie smiled. He was quick and had clearly taken the time at some point to diligently evaluate each of their powers. "You're right. I'm curious. How well did you analyze my power?"

"Basic probability," DeShaun answered carefully. "Your powers good for avoiding and enhancing. At the top of your game, you may even make the impossible happen."

"Do you think my ability makes for a good offensive power?"

"Umm," DeShaun stumbled. He didn't think it did.

"For example, a minute ago, I increased the probability Carlos would catch Frankie," Melanie informed calmly as she stood up from her place. "Now, I increased the probability that Frankie would come in this direction, and she'd go after you instead of me."

As soon as she was finished, Frankie jumped down front of him from the tree above and swiped at him. DeShaun gasped, letting out a weird gurgle as he stretched as far back as his lanky body allowed. "Woah!"

Frankie didn't hesitate to let him recover. She swiped at him again and he dodged. Frankie cursed as her hand connected with the tree beside him at a bad angle. She whipped her head around and located DeShaun. He had gained a few feet on her, but that wasn't a recovered and jumped to the side as Frankie went after him again. "Woah, chill! Chill!"

DeShaun ran for dear life as Frankie wasted no time pursuing him. He knew he couldn't outrun her. He didn't understand Frankie's powers, but he knew she was fast. He cleared his path of rocks and twigs as he ran, wrapping them in telekinetic power. With a long hurdle, he jumped and twisted in the air. He set the small obstacles behind him, directly in Frankie's path. It managed to slow her slightly, but he was still in danger.

He continued running, contemplating his next move when he felt something strike his back. He stopped and turned around, freaking out as he saw what it was. "Ooooh!"

Frankie's eyes had become rectangular with yellow pupils, while her tongue had reached new lengths and spanned out the distance between her and DeShaun. She croaked in response to his surprise and retracted her tongue.

"Does that count?!" DeShaun exclaimed as Frankie went back to normal.

She shrugged in a care less manner. "No tag backs."

"Fine, fine, whatever," DeShaun relented, walking off as he tried to shake the image of frog Frankie out of his mind. Now that he was tagger, he could go after Melanie. She, probably expecting so, would probably try to dissuade him with her powers, but he had a trump card to play.

He smiled to himself as he retreated to his sixth sense. His mind fanned out across the field as he tapped into his telepathic field. Four consciences signaled back at him. Dorian was laughing at him from afar, causing DeShaun to nearly abandon his plan for revenge. Carlos was thinking of coming out of hiding and having a one on one fight with the tagger. DeShaun shook his head in response. No way that was happening.

Frankie stood off to the side, not really caring since she couldn't be tagged, which left Melanie. As expected, her thoughts were filled with equations to get him to avoid her. He smirked and went after her. He could feel her surprise as he approached her. He was still mentally linked up with her, so he knew she hadn't yet seen him, but she was already fleeing. He off-handedly noted to investigate that as he started his counterattack.

He drew his powers around the area in front of her, causing several objects to float. Melanie started and ran the other way, straight into him. She gasped in horror and backed away.

"Not so fast, little lady," DeShaun said, grabbing her as she tried to run away. He picked her up and held her in the his arms teasingly as she tried to break free.

"Let go!"

"Oh no, you turned on me. That gets you a pinch on the cheeks," DeShaun protested, following through with his threat. Melanie whined as her cheeks were pulled on either side. The two continued their antics until a siren wailed over them. They stopped and turned their heads to the noise as DeShaun released Melanie.

A police car turned down the road and raced alongside the park, drawing everyone's attention. The two stared after it in stunned wonder as they didn't know what to do. They looked up as Carlos entered their peripherals. He had joined them as soon as he heard the siren, and was looking after the speeding car with a dark look. "You guys still wanna be heroes?"

Melanie wriggled out of DeShaun's grasp and ran the small distance between them. She stopped just in front of him and beamed up with a bright smile, "You betcha, soldier."

Carlos turned to her and nodded. He wrapped an arm around her and scooped her up into his arms. Melanie went with it and perched on his shoulder as he helped her. Carlos grabbed DeShaun next, curling an arm around the boy's body and holding him up.

"Hey!" he shouted as he tried kicking free, his dreads swaying about him. Dorian and Frankie returned to the field after the siren had left. They stopped their approach upon seeing Carlos with their teammates incarcerated.

"I don't think that's how you play tag," Dorian offered as Carlos walked over to the two. They had missed the previous conversation and were left in the dark, but Frankie had figured it out.

"Don't you dare, Shrek," she warned, pausing between each word. She began backing up, but Carlos had already reached to seize them. He grabbed Dorian first and threw him over his other shoulder, laying him over similarly to his taller friend. He grabbed Frankie next and hugged her upright as he began to run after the echo of the siren. There was a reason Carlos had manhandled the group. He was fast, not enough to wear a red jumpsuit, but certainly quick enough to get them where they needed to be in a short amount of time.

The group groaned out loud as he released them in front of the scene of the crime. Only Melanie seemed to have any fun. She climbed off his shoulder and weaved her way into the crowd while the others recovered. She found a cop close by and approached him.

"What happened here?"

The cop looked down and raised an eyebrow at her. Given, she was older than she looked, Melanie still held the appearance of a pubescent twelve-year old. "Get lost kid."

Melanie frowned at his response and tried again with more force, "I'm a hero at the League Academy. Tell me what happened."

The cop paused and gave her another once-over before sighing in annoyance. He frowned and moved her off to the side as the others caught up. "Look, you're a bit late here. Person's already dead."

Everyone's eyes widened at the news. They were too late to save anyone.

The officer frowned upon seeing their expressions. "Sorry guys, some kind of freak accident."

He stopped, a thought suddenly occurring to him. "Hey, you don't happen to know a superhuman with weird powers, do you?"

"What do you mean?" Melanie asked, her voice becoming harsh as her eyes narrowed.

The cop shook his head and inched away, deciding not to tell them. "Nevermind. Go back home."

The group stared after him as he walked off, wondering what he had meant by that. It suddenly occurred to them, that maybe a superhuman had been involved. That idea weighed heavy in their minds, making them sick at the thought.

"I'm going to check it out," Frankie announced, determined to clear up the situation herself. She began peeling off her school blazer and thrust it into Dorian's arms.

"How are you going to do that?" DeShaun asked as Frankie continued undoing her uniform.

"Don't ask," she sighed as she unbuttoned her shirt. The two younger boys blushed at the motion, a bright pink highlighting their cheeks as they stared. Frankie glared at them as she pulled off her blouse to reveal the top of a light grey bodysuit. The boys flushed as they realized their mistake.

"It's a bodysuit Megan helped me design," Frankie upon seeing everyone's questioning stares. "It camouflages."

"Why don't I get one?!" Dorian immediately exclaimed, leaning forward to inspect the material. Frankie's expression soured as he invaded her personal space. She extended a hand and pushed his face back.

"Because you don't camouflage," she said matter-of-factly. "I mimic animals. No point in being a chameleon if your clothes give you away."

She began undoing the belt of her school uniform as she let her statement sink in. She pulled her belt free and laid it over her blouse. Carlos stepped in front of her again as next came her pants. She smiled appreciatively at him as she began undressing. She camouflaged herself as she did so, giving herself more privacy. Being out in the open, she looked more like a blended painting than anything else. Although to an unfocused eye, one could easily miss her.

She sighed as she pulled off her pants and folded them along with the rest of her clothes. She steadied herself against Carlos back as she pulled her shoes free, something she still needed to find a camouflagable replacement for.

She finished and gently pushed Carlos to the side to tell him she was done. The group gawked at her, or what they could make out. Frankie rolled her eyes, not that they could see and stepped closer to the crime scene of the hotel. "I'll be back soon!"

Despite her camouflage, Frankie was still careful when infiltrating inside. She certainly wasn't experienced with camouflage, as she looked more like a visible moving shadow than anything, but it was enough to make it through.

Finding the crime room wasn't hard. The hotel had been almost completely cleared out upon arrival of the police, and Frankie was able to follow the yellow tape with ease. The police had already investigated the scene so the room was left empty. Frankie hesitated at the corner of the hallway before the room. She was nervous, but clenched her fists and steeled herself.

She turned inside and looked around. For a murder scene, everything was quite neat. No tables had been turned over, nor was there any broken glass littering the floor. The room was so clean and pleasant, Frankie almost thought she had been mistaken. As she walked further, however, small drops of blood made a trail leading into the bedroom, reassuring her that she had picked the right room.

Frankie gulped and walked inside. The body had been placed on a gurney and a white sheet had been laid over it, much to Frankie's relief. She stepped closer, only to stop as she saw the shape of the body. She didn't notice before, but the sheet completely caved in where the person's stomach would be. At first he looked cut in half, but upon closer inspection, Frankie could see his skin and spine were still there beneath the sheet. There was simply nothing there.

Frankie turned away, throwing her hand to her mouth as she realized his internal organs were missing. She gagged and stood against the wall quietly, taking a moment to recover herself. She pressed her head against the wall, letting it rest there as she sighed sadly.

Pressing her hand against the wall and curling her fingers, she straightened herself and turned around again. She gasped aloud as now a short girl, around her age, with long, wavy hair and electric blue tips stood before the body. The other girl's head snapped up upon hearing Frankie, her icy blue eyes darting towards the direction of the sound.

She narrowed her eyes at her and Frankie realized her camo had dropped in her surprise. Cursing herself for being caught, Frankie made a bee-line for the door, but the other girl was faster. Within a moment, she had twisted in front of Frankie, cutting off her exit. The girl threw her hand out to the side and a vibrant, azure sword materialized in her hand. She played with it comfortably, twisting it around with expert precision before pointing it at Frankie's neck.

She glared at Frankie hard, looking over her with killer intentions. Her gaze stopped at the school insignia sewn into Frankie's costume. Still holding the blade to Frankie's neck, her lips twitched upwards in the slightest of smirks

"Hero."

* * *

１１：４８

Japan was a strange place. It was the only place she'd been where the world and all it's thoughts could go completely silent. The two girls were back at the old village located below the cursed mountain. What was once a small, but working village had been completely silenced by the aftermath of the earthquake. They hadn't known it then, but this village was placed at the epicenter of the quake. They had been hit the hardest and with little mercy.

"Do you think people are still buried under here?" Zuzu asked Petra as they wandered into the village ruins. Both girls had chosen black outfits for their adventure. The two looked more like shadows crossing a ghost town than anything else. Zuzu wore metallic jeggings and a loose, long sleeve top with cut outs to add appeal to her outfit. The collar was high, allowing her to wear a black mask up to the bridge of her nose to conceal her identity. Petra had insisted they return here to investigate in disguise, yet Zuzu and Haru had yet to understand why.

"You would know," Petra replied absent-mindedly as she scanned the horizon for any signs of life. She was dressed head-to-toe in a black costume to reduce her chances of being seen. She wore a cropped hoodie over a black athletic long sleeve. Her trainers were black as well, matching with her shoes. The only thing clearly visible was her face, peaking out behind her long black hair, which she had secured in a singular braid.

Zuzu sighed and opened her mind to infiltration as she searched the ruins. When she told people she loved Japan because it was quiet, they always assumed it was because of the mountains and rural areas. What she really meant, was that Japan was the only place she could truly let her mind free and hear only herself echoing in her mind.

Zuzu let out a breath as she came up with nothing. Everyone here was either dead or long gone. She shook her head, "If Haru was here, maybe he could find someone."

Haru had stayed behind to guard the book and investigate within Tokyo. Since he was the only one who could see beasts, they were hoping one could lead him to some answers. If not, he was just going to keep going around to every museum and sword shop and present the book before every blade, hoping for a reaction.

Petra ignored her as she stepped further into the village and started picking larger debris off the houses. Zuzu strode closer with a monotone look on her face. They had come here to search for clues, but she wasn't very impressed with the tactics being taken. "We'll be here all day if that's what you plan to do."

"Do you have a better plan?" Petra asked in an annoyed tone as she rifled through some pictures and notes within the broken house.

Zuzu frowned and quipped out a reply, "I assumed you-"

Her head whipped around back towards the mountain as two people's thoughts entered her mind. She narrowed her eyes and took a step forward. "There are two men on the mountain."

A dark look came over Petra as she stood up determinedly and started walking towards the mountain, "Let's go."

"Wait!" Zuzu shouted in alarm, and grabbed Petra by her wrist. "They're not normal. They're thought patterns are critical and analyzing. They're not here for tourism."

Petra scowled and pulled her arm free from Zuzu's grip. "Neither are we."

Zuzu drew her lips in an angry line as Petra continued on her way without Zuzu's consent. She huffed as she watched Petra's back and stomped over to her. "You're not listening. It's dangerous."

"You just said looking through debris will take all day. Now, we have two suspects and you want to ignore them?" Petra replied, looking straight ahead and ignoring Zuzu best she could as they crossed through the village.

"You're rushing into this blindly. A smart choice would be to make a plan," Zuzu scolded, walking briskly beside her.

"I was raised in a military home. I know more war strategies and tactics than you ever will. Whatever happens, I can handle it," Petra finally turned to her with an angry glare. Neither of them were in the best of moods today.

Zuzu only narrowed her eyes back at her. She stared at Petra long and hard as she analyzed her mental being, "You're young, and anger rules your mind. It always gets the better of you."

"What do you know?" Petra sneered, her nose scrunching up as her hands clenched in anger.

"I can know everything about you in a second if I wish it," Zuzu threatened, reminding the teen of her powers. She was treading surprisingly carelessly despite her clear disadvantage against the powerhouse if they got into a fight. Petra growled in response, just barely managing to hold back from punching the older girl in the face.

Zuzu stepped closer, meeting her glare head on. "We make a plan. There's no rushing into this."

Petra grit her teeth and clenched her fists until her knuckles turned white against her skin. She was giving it all she had not to pummel her right then and there. A few moments passed before she was finally able to spit out an answer. "Fine."

Zuzu backed off, satisfied, while Petra was ready to give a tantrum at being won. Zuzu turned back to the mountain, ignoring Petra's apparent fury as she figured out the best thing to do. "We can observe, but from afar. Very far."

"Whatever!" Petra shouted back, storming off. Zuzu sighed as she went on her own to blow off steam. It wasn't any use to butt heads with her again in the same hour. She glared at her back passingly before focusing her mind on the two in the mountain.

Careful to keep her spying a secret, she let their thoughts enter hers. They weren't guarding their thoughts like Haru had become accustomed to doing around her. Whoever they were, they probably weren't expecting a telepath to be around.

The two weren't far up the mountain. And they were definitely searching for something, judging by their quick analysis of the woods. She followed their thoughts for a moment longer, discovering they were indeed looking for a source of the earthquake. They were here for the same reason.

Zuzu took a deep breath and steeled herself to press further. It was more important than ever now, to determine whether the men were a threat to them or not. She focused on the one trailing behind the other and delved in. She grimaced, immediately overcome with a wave of dizziness. She recoiled, extracting herself from his head as she came back to her own body. She crouched down, holding her head as she bid the dizziness go away.

Whoever he was, he must have lost his memory. The moment she pried into his head, she was instantly lost within the gaps of his memory. It was like he had just been born. Unlike the usual structured labyrinth of thoughts that usually gave her a headache, his felt like she was lost in space.

Suddenly, a huge crash interrupted her thoughts. She sighed in exasperation, not even having to extend her powers to know that Petra had thrown a fit. She got up, prepared to reprimand the girl when she gasped aloud.

The two men had heard her and were running towards her. One in particular was shockingly fast as he bounded towards them in huge leaps. Zuzu shook herself free from their minds as she reached out to Petra to warn her of the danger.

'Petra, look out!'

Zuzu winced as she felt her surprise from far away. The two were engaged in battle several meters away. 'I'm coming!'

Zuzu rushed off to help her as Petra took on Superboy by herself. Zuzu's warning had come just in time for Petra to block a punch from Superboy as he jumped on top of her. Startled, Petra jumped back and readied herself for a fight. Her surprise was quickly recovered as she happily used his appearance as an excuse to vent her frustrations.

"You wanna fight? Let's go!" she hollered, egging her opponent on. Petra ran at him the same time he rushed her, each raising a fist as their weapon. Petra grunted as she was punched hard and thrown back. He had taken her by surprise with his strength. Usually she was the strongest in any room.

She groaned and picked herself up, flexing the bruised muscles in her body as she glared at Superboy. He similarly put a hand to his jaw and moved it left and right as he cracked it back into place.

Itching for a fight, Petra flew forward while he was preoccupied. She lifted the gravity around her, allowing her to move at double the speed. She managed to catch him by surprise as she flew around him. She displaced her own gravity and floated behind his back as she drew back her leg. She condensed the gravity around it and kicked at his shoulder blades. Superboy fell face first into the ground and tumbled a ways down from the force of her kick.

Petra smiled victoriously before several pillars of water shot around her and restrained her. She gasped as the water wrapped around her limbs and held her back. She struggled against it, succeeding very little as Aqualad stepped into view.

"It is not my wish to hurt you if you are not an enemy," he announced as he held Petra in place. She struggled uselessly in response just as Zuzu came sprinting into the scene. She was quickly apprehended by Superboy as he held her back from coming any closer.

Zuzu pushed against him and focused her mind on Aqualad. 'Let her go!'

Aqualad grunted, dropping his constructions as he braced against Zuzu shouting in his head. Petra immediately set herself free and flew a safe distance away. Zuzu could feel Superboy tense against her as he anticipated Petra's attack.

Petra dropped to the ground, creating a small tremor that set everyone off balance. She ran forward and faked a punch at Aqualad while he was covering. He blocked, but missed the kick that came at his stomach while he was focused on her punch. He doubled over in pain as the kick held more strength than he thought the girl capable of. Petra turned and ran at Zuzu and Superboy.

Zuzu yelped as she was tossed to the side so Superboy could deflect Petra's attack. She scurried back, out of the battle field and reached out to Petra as she and Superboy went at each other a second time. 'Petra, retreat!'

She stood up and cursed as Petra ignored her and threw her foot against Superboy's chest. She wasn't planning on retreating anytime soon. Superboy grabbed her foot as it landed, taking her with him as they flew back. He turned the tables mid-air as he grounded himself and used the force from Petra's kick to throw her into a pile of rubble.

Zuzu gritted her teeth, wondering how to get Petra under control when a stream of water snaked up her legs and wrapped around her arms. It weighed her down to the ground, restraining her arms behind her like chains as Aqualad recovered himself. She reached her mind out again, but was quickly rebuffed as Aqualad sent a wave of electricity running through her. She screamed and fell to the ground weakly.

Meanwhile, Superboy went to the pile of rubble he had thrown Petra in and picked her out. He held her tight, careful not to let her get any leverage as he brought her back to his aquatic teammate. She grunted and kicked against him, but to no avail as Aqualad pressed his hand against her and sent another shockwave through her.

She fell beside Zuzu, glaring at her two opponents as she mentally cursed them. The two hovered over them as they looked down at them with frowns on their face.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Aqualad asked, as Superboy crossed his arms beside him.

"死んじまえ！" Petra cursed out as they sat the girls up and restrained them. Aqualad frowned at her and turned to Zuzu, narrowing his eyes.

"I know you both speak English. I want answers."

The two girls glared back at him as he waited for an answer. Zuzu, determined to find out their intentions, pushed herself into Aqualad's mind once more. He was trying to keep a shield up, but it was weak. He didn't have much training in mental guards. Bypassing his defense with ease, Zuzu shifted through his memories and pieced together the information.

Her expression quickly changed as she realized their true nature. "You're heroes from America, Aqualad and Superboy. You came here on a covert mission with several others under the Justice League's orders. To find the cause of the earthquake and put a stop to it."

Aqualad scowled as he realized she had gotten past his guard. He crossed his arms and frowned at her with a cold expression.

"Telepath?" Superboy asked, secretly tightening a fist to keep his cool. If she so much as dared to enter his mind, he might break her.

"Telepath, empath, mind reading," Zuzu replied, her attitude changing drastically before she turned to her partner. "You can trust them. They're here to help."

With a bit of curiosity, the two heroes turned to Petra who was still fuming in her seat. She looked about ready to blow a fuse as she replied. "Nice to meet you."

'She's cranky,' Zuzu announced privately, before speaking up. "How can we help?"

"By staying out of our heads," Superboy barked out, unwinding his arms and clenched his fists.

"She's bad at that," Petra chimed in with an informative voice as she threw a glare at Zuzu for their argument earlier.

Zuzu sneered back at her. If she hadn't thrown a tantrum, neither of them would've been in this mess.

"What are you doing here?" Aqualad asked, interrupting their staring contest. He stepped forward, hoping to ease the tensions of the other three.

"We were trying to find a clue as to where and who the person who caused the earthquake is," Zuzu broke eye contact first as she remembered where she was.

Aqualad turned to Superboy and shared a look between them. They turned back to the two girls with serious expressions. "Talk."

* * *

5:03 pm.

"Who are you?" Frankie demanded, glaring as she held her hands up. The girl said nothing and bent her sword down to point at the school emblem. Frankie remembered wondering about it on her first day. She had since learned it was the symbol of an atom, meant to say that everyone and everything is connected.

The girl tilted her sword up again, using it to raise Frankie's chin. The two held eye contact as the girl smiled back at Frankie. "You're a student."

"Yes," Frankie growled out, nudging the sword out from under her chin and earning a nick in the process.

The girl raised an amused brow before stepping back. She made a motion of sheathing her sword and glared at Frankie. "Careful, wannabe. Play any more into the hero game and it'll get you killed."

Frankie snarled and moved to capture the other. The girl responded by taking out her sword again and pointing it at Frankie's chest before she could get any closer. "I mean it. I'm being merciful by letting you go."

Frankie simmered in response, contemplating over how to best her strange opponent. The girl narrowed her eyes, sensing Frankie wasn't giving up. Her gaze sharpened as she stared Frankie down. Frankie jumped back in surprise as a soft glow of blue energy drew a wall between them.

The girl scoffed at her reaction and sheathed her sword. She turned back to the body casually as Frankie tried to comprehend what happened. The girl had resurrected a barrier between them.

Frankie moved forward to break it with her fists, but stopped as the girl held up a finger. "Ah-ah, I'd be careful if I were you. Not if you want several bolts of electricity in you."

Frankie backed off and growled as she stayed in her place. She was never one to back down from a fight or accept defeat easily.

The girl smiled as she saw Frankie restrain herself. She reached for the back pocket of her leather pants and pulled out a flask.

"What are you doing?" Frankie demanded, watching her carefully. The girl chuckled to herself and took a deep swig. She let out a satisfied sigh as she finished. Her eyes rolled to meet Frankie's lazily as she extended her hand out and poured the drink over the body.

Frankie's countenance warped with anger as she stepped forward again, but stopped herself. She glared at the barrier blocking her and reached for a chair in the room.

The girl sighed as she took out a lighter next. She hit the flame as Frankie bashed the chair against the barrier in violent successions. She held the lighter just next to the body, not yet lighting it as she spoke, "You'll probably figure this out, but I lied. I don't have any ability over electricity."

Frankie roared back angrily, dropping her chair and slamming strength-enhanced fists against the barrier. It cracked instantly. She shouted again as she pulled back a fist and brought it through the center crack. The barrier shattered just as the body went up in flames.

"No!" she shouted as she ran in to stop her. She paused as the body was engulfed in flames. She whipped her head around, eyes wild with anger as she searched for the girl, but she was gone. Frankie ran to the window, nearly throwing herself out of it as she leaned out to look for her. She cursed as she was out of sight. She sprinted from the room at her fastest speed and ran down to the hotel lobby. She quickly located a side exit and ran out as cops came running back in at signs of the fire. She made it out unseen and raced back to her teammates.

"Frankie! Are you okay?" Dorian asked as she came back red in the face and heaving.

"Shut up. Villain, now! We have to go after her!" Frankie rallied as she pulled her slacks free from her pile of clothes and put them on quickly. She fiddled with her belt as she was bombarded with questions from her team.

She took a deep breath, tuning her teammates out as she sniffed the air. The girl was still close enough to smell. Frankie hardened her gaze as she focused on tracking the girl. "I'll explain on the way. Move left."

* * *

１３：０３

"Are you sure it's alright to talk here?" Aqualad asked as he looked around the tiny tea house of a nearby village. He received many stares back as their group invited quite a bit of attention. Rural areas like these never got foreign visitors, least of all four at a time.

"It's fine. No one speaks English and none of us look local," Zuzu assured, ignoring the stares along with Petra. Neither of them seemed fazed by the open gazing and clear whispering going on about them. Superboy hadn't been able to stomach it and left a few minutes ago to wait outside.

With an uncomfortable sigh, Aqualad relented. He folded his hands on the table and gave the two his full attention. "So, what's going on in Japan?"

"An ancient villain has resurfaced from the dead and is wreaking havoc on Tokyo," Petra replied in a monotone voice before Zuzu could.

"This villain, what can he do?" Aqualad inquired, not missing a beat.

"Brushogun. Legend says he was a painter who dabbled in dark magic and it overtook him. He became a monster capable of bringing his creations to life," Zuzu answered stoically.

"We always thought giant lizards would be the end of us, but turns out it's just a guy with a paintbrush. Go figure," Petra added, placing her cheek in her hand as she drummed her fingers on the table.

"You've fought him?" Aqualad asked.

"A blue ogre and a yellow tiger. Never the creator himself," Zuzu announced. "We believe they're after the creator's book. We retrieved it several days ago. Our partner is currently guarding it while looking for clues himself."

"I see, and you know no way to stop him?"

"We know a way. We just can't find it," Petra sighed, sitting up and digging in her book bag. She retrieved her research on Hattori's sword and passed it across the table. "Imbued with power from the Gods, this is the only sword capable of killing Brushogun."

Aqualad took the papers and looked at the research carefully just as Superboy entered back into the room. "Hey, I don't know Japanese, but I'm pretty sure two guys outside were talking about us. Not in the way everyone else is."

"Where?" Zuzu asked as she stood up. He gestured with his thumb towards the door, making no move to help her any further. Zuzu brushed past him and quickly moved outside. Indeed, two suspicious looking men were watching her as soon as she stepped out. They ducked their gaze and began retreating into an alley as Zuzu stayed where she was. Her eyes turned coal black as she accessed her powers and pinpointed their thoughts.

She found herself sucked into their memories. She was in a room with ancient markings carved into the wood floors. The night was dark, and the candles placed around the room gave off an eerie red glow. Her stomach swirled with unease as she became aware of the cult-like figures in the background.

A girl, emaciated with malnutrition was brought out and thrown in the center of the room. She wore a bag over her head and shook like a leaf as the group around her began chanting in old japanese rhymes. Zuzu grit her teeth uneasily as she watched the scene play out.

The floor creaked as black ink soaked the wood and puddled in specific lines and circles around the girl. The candles flickered and dim as the chants reached their second verse. When the ink reached the candles, they melted into the floor, shrouding the room in darkness.

After moments of silence, another chant was made. The girl groaned in an inhuman voice as the runes on the floor served to seal her new body within the circle. Zuzu watched in horror as she could see the dark shape of the girl thrashing against the floor as she fought against the seals. Occasionally, tentacles of ink would spill from her body and lash at one of her attackers, only to collide with an invisible force. Her refutes became more common as she continuously lashed out at her barrier. She screamed in agony as the ink coated around her and filled the barrier, blocking her from further sight.

"Zuzu, are you alright?"

Aqualad was by her side, holding her steady as she stared into the distance. The two men she was investigating had froze to the spot, their own eyes turned black as tiny cracks of the inky color spread out from their eyes.

"She's not going to kill them, is she?" Aqualad asked in a panic as he was joined by the other two.

"Who? Princess? Doubt it," Petra commented off-handedly, but studied the situation closely. She wasn't particularly familiar with any one of their powers, so now offered a good learning opportunity if anything else.

Aqualad frowned at her response and place a webbed hand at Zuzu's back, giving her a soft jolt. She gasped as she was brought out of her daze. She looked around frantically as she re-registered her surroundings. The men before also slumped with a wave of dizziness as they held their heads in wonder.

Zuzu's eyes met Petra's and she jumped towards her. She grabbed the girl's arms, if only to stabilize herself as she reported her findings. "I know where she is!"

* * *

１４：４０

It does not take a superhero or super ability to register a room damned. One can sense it as soon as they walk in. The room was exactly as she had last seen it. Empty and worn with time. Even the markings on the floor had smoothed over from their jagged edges. The four wandered around the room quietly, discomfort written all over their faces. "What happened here?"

"Something terrible," Zuzu answered, her gaze glued to the ring in the center of the room as echoes of it's history played in her mind. There was no sign of the girl now. She was long gone, and she hoped she escaped.

She bent down and pressed her hand against the ink stains timidly, "You were right, Petra. Brushogun died long ago, but his followers survived. They forced the ritual on a young girl, and she became the same monster."

"We need to find her before she attacks again," Aqualad announced upon hearing the news.

Zuzu stood up as she and Petra nodded their agreement. "We'll take care of that."

Aqualad nodded, "We don't have much time left to spare here. We'll leave it to you. While you hunt for the girl, we'll do our own research on the sword. We'll let you know if we find anything."

"Same here," Petra threw in, standing nonchalantly. She turned her gaze back to the ritualistic circle, her stomach swirling as she contemplated what had happened to the sacrificed girl.

* * *

5:32 pm.

Azure walked through the streets in her own world. She had a lot to do this week and her associate was no help. She had come to Jump City as backup if need be. Everything had been going smoothly. Their mission to infiltrate the League Academy was a success, and she was no longer needed. She had just been getting ready to move on to her next target when one of her associates called for help. He had left behind a mess, and didn't clean up.

She was furious, and had half a mind to march over to the school and blow his cover then and there, but she complied. The cops had arrived before her, so she was tasked with deleting the evidence. It was supposed to be a quick job, but that girl had showed up and slowed her down. She checked her phone for the time and cursed. She was running much later to her flight than she was comfortable with. With a frown, she picked up her speed. She still had her bags to pick up and a bus to catch before she could leave for the airport. She was dead set on her plan, however, out of the corner of her eye, she could see a small girl struggling against a large man in the alleyway. She slowed down, watching them closely. She was in trouble. Azure cursed and made a bee-line for the alley. She would make this quick.

She drew out her sword and sneaked behind the giant. With the agility of a panther pouncing on it's prey, she wrapped herself over the large man and held her sword across his neck. "Let the girl go and I won't kill you."

The man paused and let up from his attack. He backed off with his arms in the air as the girl ran free and ducked next to her savior. "Come on, let's get out of here!"

Azure bit her lip in contemplation as the girl tugged at her shirt. Normally, she would kill a man like this, but she had places to be. She backed off and turned around to follow the girl only to see two other figures blocking the alley way. She brought her sword in front of her, the sword buzzing with the soft hum of electricity.

"Stop," a voice behind her said calmly. Azure whipped around, seeing Frankie glaring at her with two of her teammates on either side of her. "Come with us quietly and we won't hurt you."

Azure chuckled darkly as she realized she'd been tricked. She turned to face Frankie fully as she slashed her sword down by her side. "Played to my lighter side, huh? Smart head on your shoulders. I'd love to see it roll."

"That won't happen," Frankie assured as both girls settled into a fighting stance. Azure gave one last glare at Frankie before spinning around to slice the whip of water that Dorian sent her way. DeShaun came next, wrapping his telekinesis around a dumpster and throwing it her way. She dodged nimbly, using the motion to turn her around and face her other enemies. She gasped as Carlos caught the dumpster midair and redirected it at her. Azure flinched and covered her head as she sent her own telekinetic blast to counteract his attack.

Carlos grunted as he was thrown back with the dumpster by a sudden pulse of blue energy. Frankie jumped high and leap frogged over his falling body as she pulled back a fist. Azure recovered and glared at her. She stepped back to dodge as Frankie punched at her previous location. She stuck with the motion and turned as Dorian and DeShaun attempted to overtake her while she was distracted. She spun and blocked DeShaun with her sword as he tried bringing a pipe over back. She held him off and used her free hand to send another devastating pulse at Dorian, throwing him back before he could even attack her. She pushed DeShaun off and arched her back, bringing her sword out around her in an arc as Frankie came close for another attack.

Frankie jumped back, forced to dodge or else be decapitated. Azure recovered herself and turned around, letting go of her sword in the process. It floated and shot at DeShaun as Azure took care of Frankie.

"Woah, what the heck?" DeShaun exclaimed, fending off the lone sword as it attacked him by itself. He began to panic as he could barely parry the blows. He wrapped his own energy around the pipe and ducked back as he had a telekinetic battle with the sword.

Meanwhile, Azure was going toe to toe with Frankie. She had the advantage of being an experienced fighter, but Frankie had strength. Azure jumped and double kicked at Frankie, forcing her to block. She landed and kicked under her guard. Frankie gasped as her chest heaved with the hit and fell back on her butt. She rolled over and caught her breath as she cursed herself. She couldn't take on her abilities fast enough to gain a footing against the other.

"Melanie!" she called, standing up shakily and looking for their smallest companion. "I need you to increase my probability of beating her!"

"I'm kind of already doing that right now," Melanie shouted back, currently concentrated on increasing Carlos' odds as he punched at their opponent. Azure flipped back. She breathed heavy as Carlos caught up with her and punched again. He was both quick and strong, a tough combo for her to keep up with.

She grunted and threw her hand back, calling for her sword. It slashed DeShaun's weapon in two before running back to it's owner. Azure swiped at him, gaining a satisfactory streak of red blood as Carlos blocked with his arm. She gasped as he ignored the cut and continued after her. She coughed as she was punched in the gut and thrown against the alley wall.

She gripped her stomach painfully, struggling to catch her breath as the team surrounded her. She sneered at them and sent another blue pulse radiating off her, wrapping all five within the blast. She huffed as they all fell back on the ground. Ignoring the pain, she stood up tall and glared at them hard. "You heroes, you all should just die."

The buildings on either side of them began to shudder as blue energy flowed out of their cracked edges. The buildings shook and whined as they began to break under the pressure. The team of five grew silent as they watched the buildings start to crumble. They turned back to Azure who was now surrounded in a blue aura. She took deep breaths as she looked at her hands, trying to calm herself down.

The five heroes could only watch as she tried to regain control. She closed her eyes, tightening her hands into fists as she breathed. "Maggie…"

She opened her eyes and screamed as all the energy she had gathered pulsated around her. The team shouted and ducked for cover as the blast came much stronger than before. "Stay away from me!"

Azure glared at them and ran to the back of the alley. Using the junk that had piled up there, she jumped over the tall railing separating two alleyways and ran down the other way. Frankie was first to get up and start after her. "Don't let her go!"

"Wait!" Melanie shouted after her, throwing herself at the taller to stop her in time. DeShaun did the same as Carlos moved to run after her. He clinged to the giant's back, using all his limbs to support him as he shouted against him.

"Dude, bad idea! If we go after her, she could lose control again!"

"Melanie can lower the probability," Frankie argued angrily, inching forward and dragging said girl along.

Melanie responded by slapping her arm roughly, and glaring at her. "I had a hard enough time keeping you guys alive! Do you know how many probabilities I had to change?! Carlos is bleeding for goodness sake!"

"I feel nothing," Carlos replied, still staring into the other alleyway.

"Frankie, we just had our asses beat. Let's go home," Dorian butt in as he came forward. The blond was sporting a nasty bruise on his head and an equally painful scrape along his arm from when he fell before. He frowned dejectedly and took Carlos' arm, wrapping it in water and cleaning the wound.

Frankie growled and agreed despite herself. She wouldn't get away next time.

DeShaun slid down from Carlos back as the group situated themselves and started out of the alleyway. "Man, I can't believe I'm saying this, but I can't wait to be back home on the island."

"Seriously," Dorian agreed as he began treating his own cuts.

"I noticed something," Carlos began, changing the subject and catching them by surprise by his chattiness. "Someone removed organs from a body, but it was still intact. The girl didn't have powers that could do that."

"What are you saying?" Dorian asked, not following.

"He's saying," DeShaun began, a sick look coming over him as he finished, "That some other superhuman killed the person, and we go to a school full of superhumans."

* * *

 **A/N: Hey, guys! First let me apologize for the month long hiatus. I did not expect to take that long but my finals and presentations spanned out multiple times across the month, and though I did try in what little free time I had, it was impossible. So I'm really sorry about the wait! I really love this story and have no intentions to stop, so I hope you stick with me!**

 **This is definitely one of my better writings and it's over 30 pages on my document so I'd really appreciate a review! Thank you so much for reading my stupid story, guys. I really appreciate it!**


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